Breaking the Cycle
by Kylandor
Summary: Haruhi is recruiting new members and puts the potential brigade members through a series of tests to determine who gets in, meanwhile Kyon has an otherwise unfriendly encounter with Suyoh and a familiar face, but something seems out of order and why is it that Mikuru is so terrified of one of the Freshmen Recruits? Rated T for violence and romance
1. Foreword

Chapter 0 : Foreword - Hello readers, I'm Kylandor. but you know that because I'm the one writing this fanfic :)

I have not abandoned fanfiction writing, I merely have been doing research (Reading Manga, taking vacations, thinking of "what if" scenarios) to break the writers block and at the same time satisfy your unquenchable thirst for more chapters. I decided to put in a foreword for this first chapter of a new series mainly to awnser any questions you might ask after reading this.

This takes place during the events of The Surprise of Suzumiya Haruhi arc and will focus on relating points and then branching off in an Alt. Universe. I will explain some things in an afterword if I think it's not obvious "such as who made what quote or any reference I feel has the need to be explained".

I would appreciate constructive criticism in reviews or PMs (preferably reviews, I check them irregularly though often). I was thinking of this foreword being in my profile but I will assume most readers are browsing through the crossovers list letter by letter like I am looking for either a specific crossover line or something that catches their eye (like a crossover that has never before been done on , considering that as far as I know there has yet to be a Suzumiya Haruhi/Metal Gear Solid crossover prior to my "The Gods" Saga of stories.

Outright insults or unconstructive criticism which is standard for most of my experiences and also the M.O. of trolls &amp; haters will be widely ignored and, if I figure out how on fanfiction net, removed.

This fanfic will start during the Surprise of Suzumiya Haruhi act or more generally. The events that are portrayed in Book 18 of the currently ongoing Suzumiya Haruhi manga (this is also the most recent book I possess though I know of future events thanks to wikipedia and can work my way to them, though wikipedia doesnt give too many spoilers (Which normally would be a good thing, but you'd be asking for spoilers if your looking into it on wikipedia, so normalcy doesn't apply here)

Last but not least a disclaimer and extended summary (dont worry I'll have posted the actual first chapter storywise seconds after I post this).

Disclaimer : I do not own The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi. It is owned by the respective holders. I do however have rights to certain Original Characters I use in my fanfictions (Particularily Ray Zenji). This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are objects of imagination and are used in fictionous settings and situations. Any resemblance to real life events and people both living &amp; deceased are coincidental (Unless Haruhi rewrote the universe to what it is now).

Summary - It's the SOS-dan's 2nd school year and there are several unlucky freshmen seeking to join the SOS-dan out of curisosity. Nagato is dealing with more flu-like symptoms as a result of the Canopy Dominion's interference regarding the Brigade. Kyon intends to try and help Nagato through negotiation with Sasaki and her friends though something else is starting to bother him slightly. Why is it out of all the freshmen intending to join the SOS-dan is there only one person, an American studying abroad is the only one who seems to be able to keep up with Haruhi...yet alone seemingly enjoying every second of it...and why Mikuru seems uneasy with his presence more so than she has ever been around Nagato.

Afterword

The term -dan applied after SOS, (SOS-dan) basically means Brigade, whenever SOS-dan is present, it means SOS Brigade.


	2. I

Chapter I : Intervention &amp; Initiation

Kyon is motionless, Suyoh is in front of him and apparently Asakura Ryoko behind him, with a knife to his throat.

"You're hurting my feelings, but if that's how you feel about it." are the words Ryoko speaks just before she launches her knife towards Suyoh at a velocity that appears to be instant, to which Suyoh effortlessly grabs, it's as if a view from a manga or comic panel, one scene becomes another with no passage of time recordable by unaugmented conventional human senses.

Kyon is unable to keep up with how fast the scuffle passes by and Kimidori's appearance only makes the situation more unfathomable, combined with Asakura's lack of regard for life and Suyoh's otherwise incomprehensible speech and actions. Ryoko again throws her knife at high velocity towards Suyoh. Just then Suyoh does something which causes Kyon to feel as if someone just flipped a switch. "I get the odd feeling that, This wasn't supposed to happen." are the words going through Kyon's mind.

Suyoh grabs the knife again only to speak a verbal command that sounds like gibberish which causes the knife to shatter into what appears to be fragments of glass which fade away and before long, Kimidori and Suyoh simply vanish and as if Ragnarök began, the tattered landscape Ryoko assumed Data Control over becomes even more damaged as materials are crushed into dust and apparent random explosions of various size in various locations occur almost simultaneously. Only five seconds pass as Suyoh and Kimidori re-appear in the spots they were when they vanished, around them an utterly destroyed landscape that could not even remotely be considered terrestrial in appearance, looking more akin to a lifeless, near-featureless desert of rubble and craters which would seem to be from some bizarre alien world.

As Asakura forms a new knife nearly instantly and throws it towards Suyoh again, she is followed by Kimidori who apparently summons a torrent of blue energy spikes which barrage Suyoh only to be blocked by some energy barrier.

"New Entity...Unidentified, assessing threat level." are the words that escape Suyoh's mouth and as if they were a cue for a scene in a play, a new figure dressed in otherwise flashy white robes with red accents appears, his face covered by a white bandage exposing only his Bloodshot Crimson Red Eyes which stare directly at Kimidori whilst grabbing Asakura's thrown knife without looking towards it before proceeding to toss it back at Asakura in what appears to be him simply returning her Knife to her. She merely grabs it by the handle, not breaking her sadistic smile. What seems more out-of-place however is the fact there is an eerie silence from everyone.

"Who...are you?" are the words that Kyon manages to say after ten seconds to which the figure replies with a male voice "Just think of me as someone who saved you a lot of trouble regarding this incident.". Suyoh then says "Threat Level Maximum. withdrawal only option." before, to Kyon's perception, turns flat and disappears as if she were a door closing and becoming invisible.

The man seems to spiral clockwise as if being sucked into a black hole before disappearing, to which Asakura remarks "Suyoh doesn't request authorization to manipulate data, she's a different kind of terminal than us and that man was unquestionably human and yet somehow infiltrated my data jurisdiction and was able to manipulate the enviroment around him."

Kimidori replies "She does not seem to have been created to communicate with humans and the methods used by the human seem to be aimed at manipulating his own data rather than the surrounding data as the barrier he formed extended from his right index finger and matching the knife's velocity by augmenting his physical form to be able to react and act at faster-than-light velocities."

Kyon couldn't grasp even remotely the possibility that man was human and was even more baffled at Kimidori's words, it would make more sense to him if he were another data life form, but to be called human and still have those abilities eluded his common sense.

After a somewhat hostile and short conversation between Asakura Ryoko and Kimidori and then Ryoko and Kyon leaves with her departing with Kyon's back facing her.

Later that day

Kyon and Koizumi seem to be waiting in a hallway and having a mild conversation after Kyon explained what happened with Suyoh, Asakura, Kimidori and the unknown man. The conversation otherwise focused on the fact that Koizumi is worried that the lack of Celestials appearing may be an omen for something much larger and worse to happen. Just before he decides to depart however Kyon asks him a question. "Hey Koizumi. Has there ever been a case where one of the Agency or Tachibana Kyoko's organization ever used their powers in otherwise normal situations?".

Koizumi replies with a serious face "No, not in a normal situation. However.." Koizumi pauses for a second before continuing, saying " There were however reports of an unknown individual outside both of our organizations being able to do so and it they were sure he wasn't a TFEI though they have been unconfirmed and most believe the situation was misunderstood. Are you sure Kimidori said he was human?"

Kyon nodded silently to which Koizumi then responded with a question. "Was...he wearing white robes and had his face covered?". Something clicked in Kyon's head as he replied "Yes that...that's exactly what he looked like, I guess from his height he'd have to be no older than 13 though his voice sounded a little older maybe." Kyon pondered a moment, Koizumi's description was too accurate to be a mere coincidence, if such a person had been both outside of either organization and also having eluded the Agency's ability to identify him then could he perhaps be some time traveler from a future so distant Man had evolved into something else or perhaps he was a slider from a parallel universe where humans were able to do all the supernatural abilities that the data-aliens were able to do. This going through his head rather fast he was able to resume his response, saying "Have you ever seen someone like that? Could he possibly be a time traveler from some future where humans have such powers?".

Koizumi shook his head slightly and replied "I've seen a man in that description once before but if he's a time traveler from such a future then it would have to be unmistakably far further than where the elder Asahina is from. As far as the reports go, including my own experience, he hasn't directly opposed or supported the Agency, though he has acted antagonistic towards Tachibana Kyoko's organization."

Before they are able to continue the conversation further Haruhi walks down the hallway, completely oblivious to what's going on and merely says "Oh there you are, I've been looking all over for you, We're going to check on the clubroom and check on the potential recruits, after that we're heading straight to Yuki's place, She missed school again and I'm getting worried."

Kyon was still unused to the idea that Haruhi could actually care about someone else but was also glad to know that he wasn't the only one who saw Yuki as a person, even if Haruhi wasn't aware of her real nature."

Moments Later... l SOS-dan Clubroom

There were some freshmen left, three boys and two girls, but something caught Kyon's eye right away, he was even more surprised he hadn't noticed it beforehand.

Asahina-san seemed to be trying very hard to hide utter terror at the sight of one of the freshmen who seemed the most devoted to joining the SOS-dan.

Raymond Zenji, a foreign exchange student from the United States...

To be continued...

Afterword

Hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. I know I should have put a little more detail into what happened during the fight between Asakura Ryoko, Kimidori and Suyoh though it's supposed to be in line with what happens canonically up until she grabs the second knife throw instead of teleporting and dashing towards Kyon and also the events that take place between timeskips are supposed to happen. As for the other girl, she was the one absent this time whilst Ray having replaced one of the random freshmen in the story and had a large amount of patience and tenacity.

-san is an honorific that is similar to the term Miss though it can mean an older or younger aim (Like Young Lady or the usual term for Miss which relates to someone of equal or greater age compared to you, I use the term "The Elder" for the older Mikuru because the honorific only changes in terms of how it's said, I dunno if using it as -San apart from -san would actually be the right way and even so would likely still confuse readers, particularly those who don't know about honorifics. Added that the publication that I read does the same thing so it's practical in terms of understanding as well.

I intend to alternate between Kyon's normal narrative thoughts and third person POV with a third person POV with Ray Zenji (my original character) back and forth

For visual references, when Ray swirled out of sight it was exactly the same as when (Spoiler for Naruto)

Uchiha Obito from Naruto uses his Kamui to teleport. Also Ray's red eyes are not in any way similar or related to the Sharingan.

Till next time...


	3. II

Foreword: Ray Zenji sometimes is difficult to follow because of accent or speech mannerisms and belates a point occasionally, so sometimes a mis-spelling or lack of proper grammar is intentional. The point of view will shift occasionally between Kyon and Ray and perhaps some others.

Chapter II : Hidden Actions

* * *

"Defeated Warriors go to war and then seek to win whilst victorious warriors seek to win and then go to war." - Sun Tzu

* * *

Outskirts of Nishinomiya, 11:18 pm, Saturday

* * *

The climate in Japan is something Ray isn't used to compared to his last place of residence, he almost feels homesick for sunny and breezy coastlines in the West Coast. But he was here to do three things. He had accomplished one, he had merged two conflicting timelines without anyone taking notice, even the Non-Biologicals.

But he still had two tasks to accomplish and they would be made known to everyone else when he saw fit and not a second sooner, as far as Ray was concerned, he could make his own choices, if what he does is recorded in history by time travelers, predicted by aliens or written like a fairy tale by one of the two Shinjin he could care less, he didn't give a damn about what they expected him to do. Right now he had one goal and one goal in mind for the night.

Send Tachibana Kyoko a message..

At the moment he was walking aimlessly down the sidewalk, or so it seemed. In reality he was stalking one of Kyoko's informants who provided the information necessary to kidnap Mikuru during an incident he kept in his memory, he had not been in North High at the time but he had known it occurred, and he knew of a few other things that might or might not happen.

As he continued to walk seemingly into random streets he spotted his target, sitting on a park bench reading a book.

Ray had learned a few things from his home timeline, things that should never be known to someone of his age, but regardless he knew them, and knows making this decision is final.

No Going Back.

No time to regret his actions.

No chance of redemption.

There was only a moment before his dark brown eyes turned violet and to his eyes, the man on the bench was glowing a golden hue in a backdrop of a blue haze which seemed to be everything else, some animals though they shone a radiant and brighter blue compared to the almost closed space like look to the rest of the world to Ray's strange power to see the unseen.

A flick of his wrist and a small blade made itself known, but still hidden under cover of darkness and being made of a black hued metal which made it impossible to see at this time of night as he drew closer to his oblivious target.

Mere seconds passed as he passed his target only to turn around rapidly and impale him in the chest first with his blade, the man not knowing why or how as he quickly stopped breathing, his heart pierced by the cold metal edge. Ray quickly grabbed the body and it swirled into his eye as if sucked into a black hole, leaving only a bloodstain on Ray's blade.

* * *

The next night, Sunday, 9:35 pm

* * *

The Weekends were almost over, Ray continued to think as he approached his next target from behind who seemed to be more aware of his surroundings than the previous one.

One could seem like an incident from Koizumi's faction or the work of some twisted plot from the future, but no.

Ray wanted to make sure Tachibana-san knew who had done this and it had to be this way.

Ray however noticed his target changed directions, heading into an alleyway as he switched his vision once more unto the blue haze that determined who was to live and who was to die.

Ray proceeded to climb the staircase on the other side before appearing on the rooftop after a climb, the man below him, waiting for something to happen whilst unaware of Ray being in the one place few look.

Up...

Ray quietly steps off the roof and lands on the man from above, two blades, one for each wrist, into the man's lungs from above, held as knives this time.

Ray again transports the man to an undisclosed location as he did before, leaving only a stain on his blades which is easy enough to remove without leaving evidence for city authorities who would be unable to report the incident anyway.

Koizumi liked Haruhi to think she lived in an uneventful place and was doing a good job at that so far.

Yes the city was a black spot on the map, nothing comes in, nothing goes out. But some things cannot be controlled such as Ray's capabilities or his tactics, these two were not the first, nor shall they be the last.

* * *

Monday, SOS-dan Clubroom

* * *

Ray understood the day-to-day frustration Kyon has been feeling up to now, being forced to do otherwise mundane tasks. This will not deter him and he has done such a good job at hiding his true intentions that Koizumi didn't feel any abnormal "vibes" which usually happen when something unplanned occurs.

Cleaning was easy enough however and because the timelines were merged, Ray also had been helping Haruhi and the brigade care for Nagato who in this timeline was both sick and at the same time Kyon was dealing with the SOS Brigade Entrance situation, in which is why Ray is even there, the only deviation being Nagato's lack of presence because of her ailments.

* * *

01201201020120

* * *

Kyon was getting impatient with the way things were going, he is going to have to act somehow, find some way of getting Nagato out of the line of fire from Suyoh who seems to be responsible for her "sickness". But he can't help but continue to be uneasy around Ray Zenji who seems the most out of place. Not because he's used to the usual makeup of the SOS-dan but something different, like if he's not who he claims he is. Which would make more sense than if he were a normal person considering the type of people (particularly the dangerous ones) that congregate around Haruhi.

Still it was nice to have less "chores" (more like slave-work) on his back.

Mikuru's reaction to Ray's presence however is what keeps Kyon from being distracted however as She is more uneasy around him than she has ever been around Nagato (which come to think of it, the Elder Mikuru has expressed some kind of combination of fear and awe whenever Nagato has displayed her capabilities.)

* * *

Same day, Kyon's House, 8:15 pm

* * *

Having nothing else to do other than lie on the bed staring at the ceiling Kyon feels the urge to give in to sleep when his sister barges into the room holding the phone saying "It's for you..." with a rather singsong tone.

Kyon sighs and puts the phone to his ear to hear the voice on the other side say "Kyon, I wanted to talk about what's going on." No doubt about it, it was Sasaki on the other end and she seemed rather uneasy in her speech which puts off Kyon's otherwise flawless sense of danger, she's never spoken in this manner before as long as he can remember.

Before he says anything he waves his hand in a shoo-shoo motion towards his sister who then leaves promptly afterwards.

"Did something happen?" are the words that come from Kyon, Sasaki however pauses before saying "Tachibana-san called me rather abruptly, she seemed concerned and asked if I was alright. I was fine but it unnerved me and I feel like something bad has happened, she seemed more serious than usual in her tone and after I assured her I was fine she practically begged me not to go out at night."

Sweat slowly began to roll down Kyon's face as the final words were said. "Begged her not to go out at night?". Knowing the dangers that usually rise out of cryptic warnings such as that Kyon could only suspect something horrible happened, but shouldn't it be over the news if it was something shocking like a killer or otherwise?

Furthermore Nagato was in no condition to do anything and the thought of trusting his life to Asakura Ryoko send a chill through Kyon's spine. Mustering the resolve to say something he spoke the words "Could it be related with what's going on with Nagato-san?"

Sasaki replied "I hope not, if it were then the most logical answer would be that the Data Overmind Aliens retaliated."

This was the worst case scenario Kyon could think of now, The Data Overmind, the Canopy Dominion, they treated the Earth like their playground and a conversation came up to mind. "Edge of the Galaxy...That is here."

Could he have unwittingly started a war between the two alien factions and suggested Earth as their battleground? Sasaki continued to speak, saying "Well if it were something on that scale I think Tachibana would have told me outright, it's probably not that severe."

Kyon replied "What about the Sneering Bastard, did he mention anything or act differently?". Sasaki replied "I don't know, he hasn't called me and Tachibana-san didn't bring him up, we'll know about it tomorrow, we're supposed to meet that day anyway. Hopefully we'll get answers then.".

Kyon sighed and said "So all we can do is wait for the night to pass and hope their going to explain it to us.". Sasaki replied " It seems that way, I'll see you tomorrow then." Kyon replies "Alright, bye." and with that he hangs up, which seems rare as usually Sasaki ends the call first.

Was she honestly concerned for Kyon's Life?

Such a thought went through his head as he scratched said head before placing the phone on his desk and laid down to sleep.

* * *

Same Night, 10:30 pm, Train Station

* * *

Ray stood waiting for his contact, dressed in a black trenchcoat and under it wearing a simple black T-Shirt. The only thing out of uniform with the rest of his attire where woodland camouflage pants and a pair of thin-framed transitions glasses which he fixed back into proper place with his index finger.

Not long of a wait since arriving at the station a tall man of African descent walked up to him, wearing a brown trenchcoat and brown slacks as he lit a cigarette and said "This is not exactly the best of alliances.".

Ray replied sharply "Can it Samir, I'm crossing the line enough as it is not dealing with you here and now, we have different goals in the end but we each have something the other needs and we don't have to fight for it."

The man known as Samir Duran puts out his cigarette and places it in a nearby ashcan before saying "I know you're hiding something from me but it does not matter, I have patience, longer than you could possibly imagine." Ray sighs and replies "I know how long you've called yourself alive and regardless my proposal is a simple trade. You want psionic energy and I want Suyoh on a leash.".

Duran is silent for a second before replying "What makes you think I have a say in what the Canopy Dominion does at this time."

Ray chuckles and responds with "You have the resources to antagonize them away from the Earth and thus deprive Suyoh of any possible reinforcements, we both know they operate on data only by a Cloud Computing method and if you take down their physical servers across the Koprulu Sector's Terrestial Planets they will devote more resources from the events here to repairing and attempting to retaliate against your Tal'Darim pawns."

Duran raises an eyebrow, impressed at Ray's information regarding other regions of space and says "And how would you be aware of the Protoss?"

Ray chuckles and replies "That is for me to know and you to ponder about for the next 500 years or so." Duran knows Ray can contribute significantly to the resurrection of Amon but even then that is only half a millennia of progress to be bypassed, but the sooner the day of reckoning comes the better, Duran nods his head and says "Very well, I will agree to these terms, you will receive evidence of a Tal'Darim assault on the Canopy Dominion's assets in the Koprulu Sector within one of your weeks."

With those words Duran disappears seemingly into thin air, Ray proceeds down the sidewalk with a grin on his face, saying "Even with these distractions Suyoh will still be able to make a meaningful threat against Haruhi's life and like in his timeline...act upon it.

"I will do everything in my newfound power to prevent that from happening again, no matter the bodycount..."

* * *

To be continued

* * *

Afterword:I originally intended to bridge this with the Starcraft Universe in the first chapter but decided it would be too difficult without degrading the quality of the fanfic, but there it is, Duran is now involved in the story (For those that haven't played the first two Starcraft Games, he's the previous alias Narud used)

Regarding the mock-binary I placed into one of the separators, I might use it more often to dictate an in-chapter switch of the Point-of-View between Kyon, Ray and others.

To avoid any confusion...

When I placed the sentence "Was she honesty concerned for Kyon's Life?" I didn't mean Sasaki has no regard for Human Life, I meant that Kyon was starting to grasp the true seriousness of Sasaki's call. That she was calling not just to talk about the upcoming meeting with her "friends" but also was calling to make sure Kyon wasn't in danger, in effect her call mirrors the one she mentioned was made by Tachibana Kyoko (in this chapter).

Obviously Kyoko wasn't calling because TFEIs started duking it out with eachother on the streets but because two of her informants, on two subsequent nights were killed Assassin's Creed style by Ray with only enough evidence pointing to him and evidence that couldn't be shared with authorities without compromising their own status (Kidnapping obviously being a crime and they'd be cutting their own head off in the process, so instead they might opt to deal with it on their own)

The above was not a spoiler but an explanation and third party analysis of the situation (If you haven't read the manga or light novels then you probably wouldn't be able to follow half the plotline in this story as it follows an arc the anime never got to.)

If any of you have questions of what else I'm crossing over in this story, your going to have to wait until it actually happens or I'd be giving you a spoiler, though if the hidden blade scenes haven't said enough I'll say it here. Assassin's Creed will be involved loosely (Oh the Templars would LOVE to get their hands on Haruhi's power.)

* * *

Till next time... - Kylandor


	4. III

"The Zerg were changed by the Xel'Naga, the Protoss Enlightened by them. But the Xel'Naga did not create man... That was the work of EDEN"

* * *

Chapter III : Closing the loop

* * *

Tsuruya Estate, The Same Night

* * *

10101020210

* * *

"I never get tired of these." Ray says as he straps on his hidden blades and wraps a white bandage around his face. Flicking his hand once to test the functionality  
of his blades before taking a leap of faith from a tree into a well, extending one of his blades, a hookblade, to latch onto the stone which is easily cut and secured by his blade which he then uses to climb out of the well, making little sound.

Easily making his way inside past otherwise unsuspecting security in the otherwise flashy White and Red hooded robes used in the past by an otherwise unknown to history Florentine man. Ray finds his way to Tsuruya's room easy enough and focuses energy to his eyes which turn from dark brown to crimson red, his vision changes, displaying a kind of Heads-Up-Display to his eyesight alone, on the upper left portion of the HUD is displayed in English "Nano-Tech Status:Active".

Walking through the door as if it were an illusion, he relaxes to see Tsuruya simply asleep as he carefully searches the room for something specific, something out of place in a teenager's room.

* * *

And he finds it...a small metal block which breaks his cover as it glows in his presence, just as Tsuruya gets up, Ray pulls out a golden orb, sending a bright, slightly transparent golden line to her head, controlling her, making her go back to sleep without incident.

"This is definitely a Piece of Eden." are the words going in Ray's mind as he slides in the artifact into a hold that fits it perfectly in his left gauntlet, which quietly glows golden for a moment before returning to it's normal silver appearance...

* * *

Only a minute later

* * *

Guards spot Ray, someone must have tipped them off, he made no mistakes, they put him at gunpoint.

Ray ignores the threat of a firearm, brushing it off as he sends a pulse from the sphere in his right hand, knocking the guard unconscious immediately and to his dismay, several more take his place only to be dropped again by the apple of eden, asleep like infants, unharmed physically.

Ray continues down the Estate until he gets outside, surrounded by guards who this time, do not hesitate to open fire, sending a hailstorm of rounds at Ray only for them to impact some kind of white hexagonal barrier a few inches from Ray's actual body. Ray uses the apple one more time, sending the small private army into a deep sleep.

Ray then proceeds towards a car which he jabs his left hidden blade into the steering wheel, causing the car to start up as something flashes on his HUD. "Nanite Hacking Successful."

* * *

10110100120

* * *

The Next Day, Train Station

* * *

Kyon meets up with Sasaki, who seems back to her normal attitude, Tachibana and Fujiwara by her side, though Suyou is not in sight.

What seems to be deja vu hits him as the conversation passes by, more so with a chatty cab driver as they ride towards North High, Kyon wonders if Kyoko has considerably less resources than Koizumi and assumes she had to pay out of her pocket for the taxi.

* * *

North High, Closed Space

* * *

If the sneering bastard ever gave Kyon a reason to hate him before, he's gone to a new level now. The words he said make it obvious that he and his cohorts view Sasaki as nothing less than a tool to be used, not a person.

As Kyon walks along with them to the SOS-dan's clubroom Kyoko suddenly says "There's someone behind this door.". Fujiwara brushes her worries off by saying it's probably Suyou.

But he couldn't be more wrong, as standing before them is Ray Zenji, in his white and red robes, hood down, eyes red and no bandage hiding his facial features, Fujiwara freaks out completely and shouts "No, not you! You're supposed to be dead, how the hell are you even here?".

Ray sighs and replies "I am both alive and dead, I'm not surprised you did not notice but I am surprised slightly that your allies who back Suyou did not notice, that I merged the various timelines into one.."

Before Fujiwara could react, the door behind them opens, revealing Koizumi Itsuki and the elder Asahina Mikuru of which the sight of the latter sends Fujiwara into an even more unstable mental state as Ray says "I'm surprised you managed to get here.".

Koizumi's otherwise half-smile drops completely as he says "Do not underestimate us, with Nagato-san's help we were able to borrow Haruhi's power to enter this place, it was a mistake for you to interfere with her.". Ray grins and says "I did nothing other than nudge someone to make sure Suyou's comrades focused their attention elsewhere, though they have been too trusting as of late, I have no intention to honor my side of the agreement with them."

The elder Mikuru did not have fear towards Ray but rather it seemed, hatred...

* * *

101201211

* * *

Ray has them eating out his hand like a pet dog, it was time to tell them what he intends. But before he could mutter out another word, Mikuru says "You shouldn't be using the TPDD for things like this Ray, nor should Hakeda be using it for his ends as well. Both of you know full well what could happen if you don't close up the holes behind you.". Ray chuckles a bit and laughs "I don't know if Fujiwara-slash-Hakeda has been closing them or not but I left mine open intentionally to draw you out, knowing you would break your cover to close such a large rift, but that's not the only thing you need to worry about...I am an enigma miss Asahina, a slider, I am not bound by what you know as the future, nor do I intend to become bound."

* * *

Before she could react, Suyou appears out of thin air between the three parties, saying "You do not belong in this place, nor do those you call Shinjin."

Ray chuckles a bit once more before saying "I take it you managed to access my language database as I planned. It's much easier to communicate under these circumstances is it not?".

* * *

10112001

* * *

Kyon was having a hard time wrapping his head around the situation, always giving into awe, unable to do much, but he has had enough, as far as he knew however, Nagato was fine, Ray had done something to help her.

No more holding back.

Kyon distanced himself slightly from the rest, saying "I don't know exactly what's going on here and I don't care. I don't care what the future is like but this is my present, settle your problems in your time, leave us out of it! And Earth belong to us, to humanity! Not to the Sky Canopy Dominion, the Data Overmind or little green men from Mars! Why can't you leave us alone?".

Ray grinned as Kyon finished his rant, breathing slightly faster than normal from having let out his thoughts on the situation, Ray let his grin drop and said "I can't avoid interacting with you Kyon...I came here to do something specific and I think you have a right to know, seeing that we're on the same page."

* * *

12110112

* * *

Mikuru and Fujiwara/Hakeda both seemed to focus before Ray said anything, and Mikuru drew a firearm to the surprise of Koizumi, Kyon and Tachibana, opening fire with white projectiles which merely impacted a white hexagonal barrier several inches from Ray's body as he laughed, saying "I'm also from a future 100 years farther than yours little firefly, nothing you can do will affect me in the least, I am unaging, undying and more importantly...willing to kill to ensure Suzumiya survives to see the future I call my home..."

Ray looked at Kyon, whose face changed as he heard those words, he was more shocked at what he just said more than the sight of Mikuru shooting a gun at somebody with the intent to kill.

Ray formed a blade from nothing, taking form from a blue-white hexagonal aura before showing itself as a Katana which was now pointed at Suyou who said "Your presence here does not change our decision, for the universe to be stable, Haruhi must die.."

* * *

Ray quickly changed his stance as he said "There are only two ways for you to leave this place Suyou. That's leaving it after killing me or leaving behind an inoperable mobile terminal which we humans call a corpse..."

Lighting cackled through Ray's blade as he and Suyou disappeared from sight, less than a millisecond later, the wall broke through and sparks flew across what was the school grounds.

* * *

Ray was actually enjoying this, as he parried Suyou's attacks with effort, she has definitely been upgraded, either Duran betrayed him or the Canopy Dominion anticipated the need for her to be fully combat functional without support, but regardless there was a job to do here and that was kill Suyou before the closed space around them collapsed, Ray was powerful, but he only was able to infiltrate this region with a memento of his timeline's Suzumiya Haruhi, the SOS-dan brigade chief's armband.

Suyou and Ray began moving at even faster speeds, clashing swords, Suyou had formed her own Nanite Blade for combat with the same design as Ray's only slightly longer with the blade's length, but Ray's was more balanced than her blade.

Dashing back after a relentless flurry failed to contact Suyou's form, Ray threw three throwing knives at FTL speeds towards Suyou who dodged them gracefully to send her blade at Ray only to phase through him as if he wasn't there, Ray's crimson red eyes changed pattern, slowly developing a cat-like pattern as he unleashed another flurry of attacks, this time his blade's color changed to a crimson blood-red color with a red lighting trail in each strike which Suyou either evaded or deflected with her own blade.

Ray saw an opening and sent his blade forward which Suyou dodged, only to be stabbed by Ray's left hidden blade which then glowed golden, sending an energy pulse that sent Suyou flying into the closed space wall, hitting it with force did nothing but create the usual effect, but Suyou's body disagreed as blood began to soak her school uniform.

Unfazed as she cannot feel pain as strong as humans do, she shifted behind Ray to land several blows against his Nanite Shield, the Hexagonal White Barrier which before-hand stopped bullets from Asahina's sidearm. Suyou said something at a rate only Ray was able to perceive, she said "Tactical Action:Three Pillars".

This caused three data spikes to rise out of the ground which Ray evaded effortlessly

Ray now knew finally how she manipulates data. She does request permission...from herself...to perform such actions.

Suddenly Koizumi appeared in sight, sending a pulse of red energy at both Ray and Suyou.

Suyou simply evaded it whilst Ray's Nanite Shield withstood the impact. Ray grinned while saying "Well, you are an esper after all..". at the same time Ray spoke, Suyou took advantage of a perceived opening and flung a hidden blade extending from her right hand's skin into Ray's Nanite Shield, causing it to shatter like glass, Ray dashed back several times, his face now serious and filled with killing intent.

* * *

11010112

* * *

Koizumi noticed Ray stopped talking and having changed his attitude, he was through playing. Koizumi was good but this was a fight he couldn't win alone, it was like trying to interfere with a fight between two gods rather than a slider and an alien. Koizumi mentally said "Divine Light:Millenium of Suffering" which then resulted in several red spikes being fired from his hands at Suyou alone who was dodging each one only for Ray to take advantage of the opening and slice Suyou's left arm clean off with his Nanite Blade.

* * *

10111202

* * *

Ray realized Koizumi was now targeting Suyou specifically, for the moment at least, he was an ally. Ray noticed also that Suyou now had a new left arm, albeit lacking a sleeve to cover it. Ray did not have a moment of indecision as he continued to charge at Suyou at a pace Koizumi was having a hard time keeping up with, if anything his presence was merely like that of a striker in a fighting game.

Suyou continued to evade Ray's blade swipes and suddenly shifted the tide by sending several data spikes of her own at Ray who evaded each one as he made a note of his HUD which showed something in his bottom right corner. "Nanite Shield Offline". He was not going to underestimate any data-based life from now on, she had  
easily shattered his Nanite Shield with a single well placed attack.

But it was time to finish this, even if it meant losing control for a moment.

* * *

Ray dashed back further as Suyou dodged another barrage from Koizumi, Ray however decided to let himself go as his eyes changed from their red catlike formation to a violet formation, showing Suyou as Red and Koizumi as Blue, Eagle Vision.

Ray then activated with a thought his trump card, the Gauntlets of EDEN, which shined golden, forming two orange energy blades in the above-wrist position instead of the usual below-wrist position the metal blades were evident from.

Suyou then proceeded to ignore Koizumi outright and charge at Ray who dashed forward to meet her, searing off her right arm which reformed immediately, but Ray shifted around and formed another Nanite blade which then pulsed with an orange energy aura as he slashed at Suyou madly, causing her to be cut several times. Instead of blood however there were cauterised singes as if she was hit by extreme heat.

Suyou backed off slightly and evaded a set of red bolts from Koizumi's direction as Ray charged forward again, forcing Suyou on the defensive as she continued to form Nanite blades to try and deflect his pulseblade only for them to be sliced in half like a hot knife through butter. The pace of the fight began to slow as both retreated to a distance with Suyou sending Data spikes at Ray while dodging Koizumi's attacks and with Ray counterattacking by digitizing a silver-plated Desert Eagle and firing repetitively as if it were fully automatic and having unlimited ammo, sending a hailstorm of bullets at Suyou who had adapted her own Nanite Shield to repel the attack, but she decided it was stable and charged towards Ray who activated his EDEN Blades once more, driving one into her shield, shattering it as he drove his other wrist-based EDEN blade into her stomach before turning around 180 degrees and throwing her at considerable distance with a fused and cauterised injury in her torso.

Koizumi hesitated for a moment as Ray continued to dash towards Suyou who was getting slower as Ray only got faster. If he challenged Ray in this state he would most certainly die, but something was also off about Ray...as if he were someone else...

* * *

He then remembered his experience with the "White Assassin" beforehand and realized it was Ray all along...in this state he will kill anything that draws breath. Had he remained in that state for half a second more than he remembered, Koizumi would not be alive today, haunted by the memories of several long time friends sliced into several pieces by an otherworldly weapon.

* * *

Ray regained his senses as his eyes returned to their crimson red nature and he was now fighting Suyou at an equal level, he dare not enter his furious rampage so quickly in succession lest he be trapped in that state for the rest of his natural life.

It had only been sixty seconds though it seemed as if hours passed as the fight continued, Ray extended his hidden blades and held them reversely like combat knives this time, assuming a more stable fighting stance as Suyou began to dash at him at a pace Ray now was matching (where before he had been faster, no doubt about it, Suyou was getting weaker)

As the fight resumed Ray continued to dodge Suyou who was also evading Ray's attacks. Suyou had a larger sword but Ray had two very versatile blades as he swept his leg at which Suyou jumped to evade only for Ray to continue his turning motion and drive his right blade up her stomach and into her heart just before she dashed backwards, now bleeding as this wasn't a high-temperature cut, but regardless she now recognized Ray was going to win a battle of attrition, and sure enough, Sasaki's closed space, which was now fighting with Haruhi's somehow began to crack and collapse alongside Haruhi's. But as soon as a hole was open Suyou received a command from her faction.

"The order to terminate Suzumiya Haruhi is rescinded, you are to adopt an observational approach instead."

Ray seemed to notice her change of expression but refused to let her leave unfazed as he held out his left arm at her, firing an orange arc of energy into her which sent her flying outside of closed space as it collapsed around them.

* * *

1110122

* * *

Kyon's POV, In front of North High not even a second after they arrived

* * *

Sasaki, unaware of what happened, asks "Were here, now what?"

Suyou is nowhere to be seen, which puts Kyon's mind at ease, in fact the only people there with him are Fujiwara (or Hakeda if that was his name based on what Mikuru said), Tachibana Kyoko and Sasaki. Fujiwara grabs his head and says "Things did not go according to the script...just who was that person."

Kyoko then said "We'll ponder over what happened later, for now we have to be sure of our allies.". Kyoko sighs and turns her head to Kyon, saying "We'll meet up again later after we sort things out, but it seems right now we have to attend to our own affairs before anything else happens. Hopefully we'll be able to get along."

With that Kyon merely nodded as they walked away, still shell-shocked from the combination of Ray's appearance and even more so, Suyou's threat against Haruhi.

* * *

Later that night, Haruhi's House

* * *

Haruhi was laying in her bed, having made dinner for her parents as usual (making the food the way her mother likes it is kind of difficult so she usually has to make two dishes). Something rustles outside and she takes a look at the window before deciding to sleep after finding nothing out there.

* * *

Ray stands over a dead man in a suit near a tree, blood on his hands as his hidden blades retract, only this time his Robes are black and red instead of white and red, possibly to be difficult to see at night as he disposes of the body like he did with Kyoko's informants in the past.

Ray sighs and says softly to himself "Suyou isn't the threat anymore...now I have to deal with NERV as well." while walking away, leaving no evidence that he was there.

* * *

To be continued...

* * *

Afterword: Hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I did writing it (Finding an appropriate song on youtube to listen to while writing certain scenes helps tremendously)

Like before, the parts left out (like the mentioning of a conversation that was not written here) regarding Kyon and Sasaki's group heading to North High is taken into context of what happened in the manga, specifically book 19.

I haven't gotten book 20 yet but as far as I know that's the last one in the manga so far and also covers the last parts of the light novels (if Wikipedia is to be trusted) and so therefore this story now has a life of it's own and no longer needs to follow consistency as much as before.

Objects used (A list of things used from other games/shows/the like, might contain spoilers)

Hidden Blades (These designs are not typical of the games used, if best explained their a mix of Ezio's Blades and Connor's Blades, I will explain Ray's equipment used here in detail down the chapter.)

Apple of Eden (The golden sphere used to force Tsuruya back to bed and subdue the Estate's Guards without killing them.)

High Frequency Murasama Blade (In Metal Gear Rising, the blade used by Jetstream Sam is mirrored by Ray when he goes ballistic against Suyou)

Nanite Blades (Nanite Blades effectively look like Raiden's HF Blade from Metal Gear Rising and form as if decloaking something in Starcraft 2).

Gauntlet of Eden (A piece of eden I devised, unlike other pieces of eden this is a MILITARY TOOL.)

Mass Effect Pistol (The Pistol used by Mikuru effectively looks like a Predator Pistol from ME2 and fires rounds as if they were Cyro Rounds.)

* * *

Ray's Weapons

I am now going to explain the weapons Ray used here in detail, if you're not interested or just don't care then skip this as its the last entry in this chapter.

Contains Spoilers for Starcraft II:Heart of the Swarm

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. . . . . . . . . . . .

Ray's Hidden Blades are part of his "Gauntlet of EDEN", a military tool used by the first civilization's infiltration specialists, with it he can also take the form of anyone of the distant past (It works like an Animus as well). It is cybernetically grafted into his arms, meaning instead of skin he has gauntlets there which can be holographically changed to mimic the appearance and feel of human skin, it's now a part of him and he couldn't remove them even if he wanted to. (And also can fool metal detectors into thinking there's nothing there, so he can easily walk into a high security building with enough firepower to level a small town or kill a TFEI Terminal.)

The Blades they use (the normal metal ones) are detachable and opposable like Connor's Blades, they are also connected by a magnetic thread and can be used like Rope Darts in that manner, a standard firearm exists on his gauntlets which can fire metal slugs at ultrasonic velocities, the gauntlet itself can also fire Proton Lances at FTL Velocities at targets, working as a powerful energy weapon (The Visual Effect looks like Iron Man's repulsors) and can focus them into energy blades that look like the orange psi blade used by Narud/Duran when he impales Kerrigan.

Ray's Nanite Blades are formed by tens of thousands of nanites magnetically locking eachother close to act as a powerful melee weapon and also act as a shield (the Nanite Shield which has a white hexagonal grid like appearance when hit, invisible when not hit) against hostile actions such as blades or gunfire. It is not flawless as evidenced by Suyou piercing it and Suyou's replica of it being pierced by Ray's Blades of EDEN.

Ray's Nanite Blades can also able to be charged with Psionic Energy to act like a High Frequency Blade (which is what happened when he went ballistic) and can effectively cut through almost anything that isn't magnetically shielded or being data based life (like Suyou, and even then it was more than enough to slice of her limbs). They can also transfer nanites to another object and physically take control of it's hardware (forming a crutch around an arm to force it to move against the will of it's owner for instance, or doing to same to tires, a keyhole or the electronic systems of a computer's hard-drive. In effect, it's the ultimate form of hacking where no antivirus will be enough to stop it as software is not it's only method of intrusion.) such as shown when he hijacks a car by stabbing the steering wheel with his blade.

As for Ray's Psionic abilities, they vary but common ones are charging an object with Thermo-Electric currents, hyper-vibrating a sword, transporting objects across sub-dimensions (Kamui) and absolute manipulation of electrical currents (Lightning)

* * *

Till Next time...


	5. IV

"Memories cannot be forgotten, especially if you are an enigma."

* * *

Chapter IV : Revelations Part One.

* * *

...Unknown Region of Space, early 27th Century...many...many years later.

* * *

There was silence, there was darkness and more importantly.

. . . . . . . . .

There were Zerg.

A line of Marines continued to open fire on the unending swarm of zerglings that stormed at them, where one died several more took its place in the charge as the Marines slowly began to walk back as they fired their C-14 Gauss Rifles into the numberless aliens bent on tearing them to pieces.

If only they had not gone too far...if only they had not killed who they though was their true enemy.

Those words echoed in the mind of one man behind the line, backed to a mountain where the very floor was cackling lightning.

* * *

111010221

* * *

Ray looked over the battlefield of what was the last of mankind, staring at his fellow UED Marines who were running short of ammunition.

There was no backup, there was no hope, no resupply. This was the last of the entire human race against a relentless alien race. But Ray knew the face of his true enemy while his men did not...he did not want to give them any more fear than they already had. The Zerg were only puppets of a psionic being that was consuming the stars of their light and energy to fuel his own psionic power so he could recreate the universe in his image, and his image was approaching as the hour passed with the last dead zergling.

The Hybrid...

Ray cursed under his helmet as he flipped it down and pulled up his C20A Canister Rifle, a memento of the person who would have prevented the end of all things...

Gunfire continued to erupt with no effect upon the Hybrid who were seemingly immortal and just as numberless as the Zerg, Ray cursed again as his rifle was out of ammo, and there were no spare clips this time...but a glimmer of light appeared before him momentarily before sending him to a place he was unfamiliar with.

Then it hit him.

This was old earth...before all of this, before the invention of Warp Drive, even before the colonization of the moon, before the third world war, before all of that. Ray pondered for a moment, he was alone, it was no doubt a city but it was an empty city, the sky itself however was a greyish dim light, but compared to the pure darkness created by Amon when he consumed Sol, it was a godsend.

Ray wandered, rifle slung over his back and holding out a revolver he had saved, six rounds in the chamber, ready to kill whatever he shoots. But no matter how long he wandered in the bulky suit he wore, there was nothing, until he ran into some kind of barrier, invisible, yet he could not go past that line.

An entity appeared on the other side, no doubt it was a Protoss. Ray had seen archons before, killed some as well, but this was nothing of the sort, then it spoke "Do not be alarmed Terran, for I have saved you from the darkness, but I cannot maintain this haven for long, only enough to send you to a time where you can make a difference.

Ray replied "Do you have a name? How do I know you are not one of Amon's shapeshifters sent to fool with my mind. To give me more confusion before he completes his genocide of the human race!"

The Protoss responded "My name is Tassadar, I used to be an Executor of the Protoss before felling the Overmind, the merging of energies ascended me, my physical form perished yet my spirit remained intact. As best as you could interpret, I am a wandering soul."

Ray shook his head sideways slowly before saying "Let's say you're not lying, let's say you intend to help me, that you can send me into the past to stop Kerrigan from dying. What am I to do, become infested and help Kerrigan conquer the galaxy instead of the fallen Xel'Naga?"

Tassadar replied "No, it goes deeper than that, As I have seen the future, so shall I have seen the past, the power I used to save you was borrowed, from the past, but that is not important, what is important is that the person who wields it has it transferred unto another person who will survive the third world conflict of your homeworld, if she has such power, she can ensure her own immortality unto the future and save us all."

Ray paused a moment, letting Tassadar's words sink into his mind, he must go back prior to the third world war? That is almost 500 years back in time, Ray will grow old and die centuries before even the Brood Wars begin.

As Ray thought he suddenly felt the wall push towards him as if shrinking, to which Tassadar immediately said "I cannot keep this up forever, if this place collapses you will be sent back to the moment just before the Hybrid overwhelm you. My brothers and sisters fight on another world but they too will fall to the darkness. No place is untouched by Amon's hunger and this is the only way! I cannot do this without your consent, if I could we would not be having this conversation! Time is short!"

Ray nods and says "Do it, I have nothing to lose either way."

* * *

1110110122112112001121120-...-Binary Transfer complete...

* * *

Ray wakes with a shock, in bed in his apartment, another dream...of those days.

* * *

Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan - 2014 A.D. - A Saturday

* * *

Ray left his house towards the Train Station. He had let it go to his head, a comfortable life in Earth's Past. The technology in entertainment was nowhere near the UED of the future but it was better than meeting his demise as the last human being in history to die. At the hands of Amon's abominations no less.

Ray sat down on the bench waiting for his contact, who quickly appeared...Samir Duran, one of Amon's Shapeshifters.

Duran sat beside him, dressed like he was before and said "I have fulfilled my end of our arrangement, I trust you saw the evidence for yourself?"

Ray sighed and said "Suyou's actions prove she was desperate, I will uphold my end of the bargain." With those words Ray extended his hand towards Duran who grabbed it, but Duran was not expecting Ray to betray him. He had observed him for years before making contact with the proposal to work together...

Those thoughts swelled into Duran's mind as he felt his own psionic energy being drained by Ray who grinned as he suddenly picked him up and threw him into a speeding bullet train that conveniently sped by. Ray's eyes went grey as a HUD appeared to his view alone, scanning the rails.

Ray sighed and said "Damn, I thought that would do it, these bullet trains hit with the impact of an 90mm Crucio Gauss Shell. At the very least I've weakened Duran though." And sure enough there were no witnesses to see Ray's action, the meeting was set up in a stealth field deployed by Ray, so even if there were witnesses it would look like Duran suddenly appeared out of nowhere, flying into a bullet train with a surprised look on his face.

* * *

11011012 l Nagato's Apartment

* * *

Kyon and the brigade had gathered at Nagato's apartment to study for an upcoming test, though Haruhi had already finished she still insisted the SOS-dan have study sessions periodically. Well it was better that she simply insisted on it instead of trying to force everyone subconsciously by looping a month until it happens.

Ray was still on his mind, but Suyou too. Suyou had threatened to kill Haruhi, Ray claimed to be a slider and a time traveler, and had incredible abilities he's never even seen Nagato perform.

As Haruhi heads home, the rest decide to stay over Nagato's for a while, without telling Haruhi this intent.

* * *

1110002201

* * *

The SOS-dan remained uneasily silent as Ray sipped some tea as if nothing had happened the previous week.

Then he spoke, saying "I suppose you're all interested in my story, why I'm here? How I got here? What my intentions are regarding Suzumiya-san"

Koizumi then replied "The real reason we gathered here is to determine those three things and several others as well. It's in our best interests if you transfer back to the United States and not remain involved in this."

Ray almost choked on his tea with laughter as he heard Koizumi's words, his laughter arousing the ire of all present, even Nagato, which only Kyon and to a further extent, Ray were able to notice. Ray cleared his throat and said "Don't get me wrong, I have no hostile intentions towards you or Haruhi, but if I left now then someone else would do something as well, something horrible. I don't intend to let that happen. Like it or not, I'm here to stay, just think of me as Haruhi's bodyguard and no offense but there are things out there Nagato would be entirely unable to deal with that I could."

Kyon replied "Things even Nagato couldn't handle? I'm doubtful about that bu-" Ray interrupts Kyon, saying "Like the Canopy Dominion? They put her into a weakened state where she was just as vulnerable as a normal human whereas I nearly killed their only Humanoid Physical Terminal, A-Kay-A Konou Suyou practically single handedly. No offense Koizumi but you're only value against her upgraded state is a human shield and even that's debatable."

Koizumi ignored the statement at the end while Mikuru said "Even so, it would still be in your best interest as well as ours to just leave. I'm sure Koizumi-kun or Kyon-kun can think of something to keep Haruhi in the dark."

Ray sighed and said "If I simply leave then SEELE will have nothing to stand against them that could make a difference."

Mikuru was about to say something when there was a knock on the door, to the surprise of everyone save for Nagato who simply got up and opened the door, revealing the elder Asahina with a serious face, her younger self staring in confusion."

Ray got up and flicked his right wrist, showing to all his Hidden Blade. He spoke immediately, saying "If your intentions are hostile then you should just leave now, you know full well I have technological superiority here." the elder Mikuru sighed and said "Relax, I'm not here to antagonize you. As much as I dislike it, my superiors have ordered me to more openly assist now that you're involved."

Nagato closed the door behind the elder Mikuru as she walked in and sat down amongst the rest of the bewildered SOS-dan while Koizumi says "Is what Ray say's correct? Is SEELE intending to break the peace?" the elder Mikuru replies "In more ways than one. My goal is to prevent them from triggering a large scale civil war across Japan, between your organization and Tachibana Kyoko's Organization."

Ray sighs and says "Whatever happened to classified information?" the elder Mikuru then said "A lot of things have been declassified specifically for you, my younger self will notice this soon, a lot of words have been removed from the restricted list. But more importantly I'm no longer linked to her...I don't ever recall meeting my older self or even gathering in this room. As far as I know, Time has become fluid and everything we consider linear passage of time has no more meaning."

Ray laughs and says "Or you're temporally displaced like I am, an Enigma, you're out of place, the you standing before us is not the same Mikuru who's been attending North High for the past three years."

The elder Mikuru nods as Kyon then says "Wait, let me get this straight, no matter what happens to the younger Asahina-san, it won't affect the elder Asahina-san?"

Ray nods and says "That's exactly correct, it's not really that hard of a concept to grasp if you can get yourself to think non-linearly. Time isn't fluid or we wouldn't be sitting here talking about it, the elder Mikuru is simply displaced, in effect she is now like me, a slider."

Koizumi then says "Does that mean she can do the things you can do? Or are you simply meaning she comes from a timeline different from ours?" Ray replies "The latter. I have access to powers because of my own unique talents as well as overwhelmingly advanced nanomachines inside me which can leave my skin pores to act as a physical shield or offensive weapons such as ammo for firearms or melee armaments."

Ray pauses for a moment and says "But enough about that, It's time I told you of the future, and the timeline I arrived at. I am a slider because I failed my mission once, I do not intend to fail again."

The Elder Mikuru then says "Are you sure you want to tell us of the future? Remember you said before that you were 100 years further from my timeline, anything you say affects my future's decisions."

Ray sighs and says "There is no future where I'm from, no governments, no laws, no anything! Not even the stars shine in the darkness, there is not even despair because there is no-one left to have despair! As far as I know, I was the only human being left in all of the universe at the time I travelled through time, My goal is to stop that future because If I do not, it is the end of all mankind!"

Everyone was shocked beyond words, Nagato seems un-nerved though only Kyon seems to notice this.

Ray catches his breath and says "As they say...seeing is believing." with those words Ray pulls out the Apple of Eden to the awe of everyone present, it shines and begins projecting images, projecting words, projecting what it has recorded...

* * *

To be continued...

* * *

Afterword:

Some things to mention here.

A Temporal Enigma is someone who is not linked with the normal flow of time, in the case of the grandfather paradox where if you go back in time and kill your grandfather long before he has any children, how can you go back in time to kill your grandfather as your father is not born and thus in extension, yourself.

However with an Enigma, you are effectively creating a paraell universe or an alternate timeline. You are thus an alien to this timeline, a foreign entity like how an invasive species would be alien to an environment it was introduced to unnaturally (like Africanized Killer Bees, they were never in the Americas to begin with throughout evolution, they were introduced by humanity and thus changed the ecosystem, just as a time traveler can change history without any regard to his or her own wellbeing even if they went as far as to kill their younger selves.)

The word Ire is best explained as something in similar meaning to dislike or anger.

Sliders are individuals who can, without limiting the how (psionics, magic or technology all being valid methods) "slide" between paraell universes or alternate timelines. In example, if I were to travel to a universe where I was never born, I would be a slider as it's not my home universe. If I went to one where I did exist, then there would be two of me. The Me who is a slider and my Doppelganger who is a native of that universe.

Also don't take everything Ray says to others as absolute truth. As you can tell with some of the things in that scene at the start, Ray's told a few lies to the SOS-dan.

* * *

Till next time...


	6. V

Foreword: There will be a scene that might be a little difficult to follow regarding "grammar" but this is intentional and will be explained in the afterword.

* * *

"A Future without hope is no future at all."

* * *

Chapter V : Revelations Part Two.

* * *

11101122012212211 - Initiating Binary Transfer...complete...initiating Recognition process...select Genetic Sequence...Sequence 01...begin

* * *

It worked just like an Animus, only without the bleeding effect. Ray knew what he was doing here, he was showing them his past, his memories, but only a select few. If they knew everything all at once then the fallen Xel'Naga would win in the end. He had to start somewhere, and that somewhere was here...

* * *

Sequence 01 - A Message.

* * *

Date - July 19th, 2018, Masayf, Syria

* * *

The place was abandoned like so many other places the Assassin's once called home, Ray continued to scout out the place, dressed in simple clothes. He had come here to learn, and found no books, no wisdom, no knowledge. But he had in his possession five discs of strange nature, each holding a piece of memory from someone who used to live here. Altair ibn La'Ahad.

Ray carefully inserted the discs in the otherwise large wall, his magnetic glove clinging to the metal with ease and with no ladder in sight it would have been extremely difficult without modern equipment, but that did not concern him.

The Puzzle was easy enough, link together one of the constellations. Ray had the sight Altair dubbed Eagle Vision and with the mag-gloves it was only a matter of minutes before the discs were in place and the door opened as Ray let himself drop to the ground effortlessly. Ray continued to walk forward, lighting the ancient torches as he proceeded forward to find a skeleton clothed in the robes of an Assassin, with one last disc near his foot, and one placed on the arm rest of the chair, with a note on it.

Ray viewed the one by his foot first, telling the story of Altair's final moments as he died in old age on the very chair he has sat for several hundred years. Ray had grown to respect him, even if all he had of his history were five, now six fragments of his memory.

Looking at the note he opened and read it, it was in Italian but Ray had learned it recently enough to interpret what was said in the letter.

It read "To he or she that finds this letter, I can only hope it goes to the hands of an Assassin, but I also must accept the risk it does not as this message cannot be left ignored for long. Down the steps further behind the remains of Altair is a pedestal, containing a treasure I have decided to leave for whomever finds it. Recent events have been enlightening and this disc will show you my true final moments. Somehow, though the process eludes me, I was saved from death, and even from my old age by a strange man who appeared Oriental in appearance. But I have come to realize he was not human. Words alone cannot express what I have seen. Only by seeing my experiences will you know. I have locked this place once more as you now know, you should understand the discs by now. Sincerely, Ezio Auditore da Firenze."

Ray placed the letter back in it's envelope, though rustled with age it is still well preserved because of the chamber's airtight seal. grabbing the disc, Ray relived a memory of the Florentine Eagle.

* * *

Sequence 02 - A Parting Gift, March 7th, 1701 - Yamatai, Pacific Ocean

* * *

Ezio stared at the sky for a moment, brazen with storms. Then he stared at his own hands which were young again.

He was alive, he was so sure he had felt the embrace of death from his ailing heart, but that seemed un-true now as his heart was beating well inside him, and he felt a presence behind him, turning on instinct, he realized his hidden blade was there as it extended forward, he would check his equipment later, for now, he had to deal with this oriental man in front of him, dressed in armor.

The man spoke first, saying "Do not be alarmed, I have brought you back alive and in the shape you were during your times in Roma when you fought against the Borgia. I know much of your history and need your assistance with a matter I cannot complete here..."

Ezio did not rescind his hidden blade and replied "Who are you, and why should I trust you? Whatever artifact you may have used aside, I demand answers. If you truly know me then you know I am not a simple-minded individual who goes about his daily life, ignorant of the rooftops."

The man chuckled and said "Well said, very well. I have had countless names over the millennia, there are no names you would know me by though I believe for the time being I shall use the alias Aizo.".

The man, known only as Aizo of which he made no effort to conceal it was an assumed name, held out a map and resumed speech, saying "No artifact brought you back. Only power, power I will use to revive someone more important and powerful than you could possibly imagine. I need a simple task. I have everything set to collect energy from this place but I cannot interfere directly for various reasons. For now, all you need to know is that in the center of this island on a temple is a woman consumed by hatred and despair, she ravages the waters and skies around, swatting down ships that dare sail near here and entrapping them on the island for the rest of their lives, even denying death from them. I need you to end the despair."

Ezio replied "And if I refuse?". Aizo laughed and said "You are free to do so, but I will not return you to Italia if you do so. And I very much doubt the Sun Queen of Yamatai will allow you to leave alive."

Ezio pondered at his situation for a moment, he needed to get his bearings and there were none. He was in unfamiliar land with an unfamiliar face and, after checking his equipment, was armed with what he had in Roma. The Sword of Altair, a stiletto, his hidden blades, his hidden pistol and a short crossbow. His robes white and red like before, but something was amiss, his memory was better than it had ever been so he knew it was not a lapse he felt. His spaulders, boots and other armoring were slightly golden.

Aizo noticed Ezio's reaction and said "A gift, armor worn by those who came before in military affairs. You will need it to survive this place."

Ezio decided to take the map that was still extended and said "What year is it, I need to know how long I have been gone." with those words Aizo grinned and said "Very well, your people call this time 1701 AD, a little under a century passed and the world that knew you believes you passed away in peace of a heart attack."

With those words, Aizo disappeared in a blue haze to Ezio's bewilderment who reconfirmed his equipment, this time being more precise.

He had the Sword of Altair, a stiletto of excellent quality, 20 throwing knives, 30 round shot for his hidden pistol, a metal cestus, two hidden blades, though he lacks a hookblade. Also 25 crossbow bolts, a short crossbow shaped like an Eagle, his new, strange armor, his hidden pistol, poison blade, six vials of poison, 40 darts which he can coat and fire and five vials of smelling salts to numb any pain he receives from injuries.

He couldn't be better equipped for a mission if he were still in Roma.

* * *

One Hour later, Old Temple

* * *

Ezio slipped past the Oriental Guards with ease, their armor reminds him of pictures of warriors from Japan known as Samurai. He also knows they live by the sword and die by the sword and should not be underestimated, especially since some shipwrecked sailors fired Muskets at their armor and they didn't even flinch at being shot. They could not be human to simply shrug off bullets, so Ezio must take great care not to get into open conflict if he wants to survive the island's horrors.

Ezio made his way into the temple quietly along the roof support beams and other high places, whatever these things are, they share something in common with the average human. They don't look up. With that in mind Ezio has no trouble sneaking past them, he has given up reading what books and scrolls he comes across. He knows only Italian, French, English and some Spanish and Chinese, though he couldn't read Chinese to save his life, he does know a few words from when that woman visited him and his family along with bringing memories of a life he wanted to remain in the past.

And now this other man, this Aizo had stolen the peace and tranquility Ezio sought. But he still did not want to die, he would seek a means to leave this place and see what the world had become. Based on information he acquired from the several shipwrecks near the shore before he made his way inland, he knows that there is a life to be had in a place called the Caribbean, perhaps he will chart a ship there and see what the New World is like, he had heard stories from his brothers in the Assassins he had sent to listen in on Templar affairs. But he has never himself seen it.

* * *

Ezio made his way past another group of guards. If this place wasn't so hostile he wouldn't mind spending some time here to take in the architecture. He did have a mild passion for art, possibly because of all the time spent with Leonardo who took great pride in fashioning the Codex Inventions, including some artistic touches not originally in there such as the design of his hidden pistol. True Leonardo fashioned it from the codex but he applied a few other things that were not originally there such as a flipping sight to help with aiming at distance, without which he would not have been able to fire at such distance with any chance of hitting the target.

* * *

It was snowing, he was either at great height or this was an un-natural blizzard, but he saw his target, encased in ice, appearing dead yet still guarded. Whatever unholy abomination existed here did not matter, Ezio was certain that even if he was here of his own free will, he needed to end this and so he made his way towards the woman, only to be ambushed by several Samurai, one impossibly large and carrying some kind of large, spiked club.

Ezio may not have the strength of these things but they do not have the agility the Master Assassin has learned and honed for several decades, evading these attacks is second nature to Ezio, anyone getting caught by that rampaging brute could never call himself an experienced Assassin with any degree of honesty. Though it had been a long time, hopefully the Brotherhood had not slacked in training it's recruits.

Quickly pacing himself, sidestepping often, Ezio made it hard for the brute and it's allies to keep up, their swords were sturdy and sharp...but the Sword of Altair's was even more so as it sliced through one of their blades clean and taking one of their lives in something others have always called a counter kill. Ezio quickly made short work of the lesser Samurai while evading the brute's attacks and after a few moments, spotted an exposed neck and quickly drew his crossbow, sending a bolt through it's neck which seemed to have little effect other than to cause it pain.

"Cazzo!" was the word escaping Ezio's mouth as he dodged yet another strike, Ezio had to get personal as he dashed around the brute and climbed its back before stabbing his blade, now coated in poison straight into the back of the creature's neck before jumping off it and getting distance as it went into an insane flurry, seemingly attacking something non-existent before convulsing and lying dead upon the ground after 15 seconds. Ezio had finally killed it and now knew how to do it. He quickly replaced the round shot in his hidden pistol with poison darts, this was the only way to best the brutes.

* * *

Just as Ezio approached the Queen after dispatching several of her guards, she went into some kind of fury, sending energy that knocked Ezio back, he could hear Aizo laughing behind him. Turning around, he saw that he was.

Azio chuckled as he said "I must thank you Ezio for performing your mission so flawlessly."

Ezio replied "She is not dead, why do you appear, and how did you get here. If you have been lying to me...". Aizo sighed and said "Your kind are all the same, so easily manipulated, have you ever wondered why Cesare became what he was? I nudged him here and there, of course he believed it to be dreams of conquest, but I kept him going, pushed him forward when he would have been satisfied, nudging him closer to your blade."

Ezio snapped at him, shouting "If what you say is true then it is your fault my Uncle Mario is dead, Cesare was just one of your puppets, that makes you no different then the rest of the Templars who continue to deny the freedom all of man is rightfully owed!"

Aizo chuckles as he says "You did not deserve to be free, you took your freedom with blood from the hands of those you call the First Civilization, I will allow you a glimpse of the future Ezio, a glimmer of the despair will exist..."

* * *

Ezio saw it all, the vision of the death of mankind, he saw man fight with firearms that fired repetitively, that needed loading only after sending countless rounds at some kind of abomination, things that were best described as demons. Some small, like some kind of insect the size of a man.

Then he saw one man at the end disappear with no discernible cause. but something inside Ezio told him he was still alive somehow. He elected not to share this part of the vision with Aizo who seemingly did not notice, or care.

* * *

"Ezio, wake up!" a voice called

Ezio woke to his wife, Sofia, standing over him as he slowly got up, rubbing his eyes, looking out the window. Sofia then said "You were having some kind of Nightmare, Are you sure you're up for this? To head to Masayf?"

Ezio's memories snapped, he was now back just before his journey with Sofia to Masayf to uncover the library, though he knew now what would happen.

He decided to let history play it's part until he reached the Library, repeating things as if from memory.

* * *

Masayf, Ottoman Empire

* * *

Ezio set a letter he prepared on the ship with another disc he had found in a place only he knew about because of his knowledge of the future. Encoding his experience into the disc he hoped that somehow this would alter the future as he set the letter on top of the disc, leaving Altair's disc by his foot.

* * *

End Sequence

* * *

Sequence 03 - The Apple of Eden.

* * *

Masayf, Syria - July 19th, 2018

* * *

Ray placed the disc inside his leather jacket as he got up and walked towards the pedestal behind Altair.

Sure enough it was there, untouched for centuries, a piece of eden.

Ray grabbed it, and suddenly a vision overcame him...

* * *

Appearing before him was not any of the usual three, but a fourth...

"Ah, hello there, I'm recording this information for a Raymond Zenji, the others don't know and I've worked on a better translation matrix compared to them, so this shouldn't sound like a cryptic warning or the like. I'll be blunt, my name is Aita and you may or may not have heard of my wife, Juno. In any event, we are testing several things and tomorrow we'll be testing if we can transfer ourselves into machines to survive a coming destruction. I've worked the calculations and can say for sure that by the time you get this message, the cataclysm will be averted and there will be a rather...glorious new age for the world. There is margin for error but it's rather small, I'll probably have to recalibrate the system next time, assuming nothing goes wrong with this experiment. Ah but let's get back to what I need to tell you specifically. It was only recently that I alone discovered we are not alone in the universe. We've been sending signals since before the rebellion, assuming you know about that, anyway. We've been sending signals and I got a response from an alien race called the Xel'Naga, now I know that all the calculations say we won't finish our projects in time to save our civilization but Tinia and Minerva keep trying anyway, waste of resources if you ask me. But thankfully they kind of...misplaced one of their spheres, you call them Apples of Eden, which is ironic considering that's what we call our civilization, Eden. In any event, contact was neither friendly nor hostile, they merely acknowledged our existence and went silent after that until I was contacted again by an individual of their race called Amon who promised to help our world if we accepted one of his agents. Obviously he's not going to get here in time, even with their means to go faster than light but we worked out a deal where they'll prepare to save it in your time, according to calculations without his help it will be impossible to program everything fast enough. Anyway sorry if I've not been clear in some things, the translator isn't perfect, it's just only slightly more accurate. I'll be directly sending the location of several objects of interest for you to use."

* * *

End Sequence

* * *

Their senses started returning...control over their bodies, even Nagato was made partially non-responsive during the session as Ray caused the apple in his hand to vanish in the usual swirling motion he uses to teleport.

Koizumi breaks the silence, saying "The only dark future you've shown us was the vision Aizo showed Ezio, the rest seemed unrelated to what's going on."

Ray sighs and says "It's related, very related but also I'm not entirely used to projecting memories to someone else with the apple, So some things were not entirely linear, I'd rather not try again so quickly as there could be complications, a few uses set a distance apart has no problem like with what I and several others call the bleeding effect but if used too often too quickly, well let's say you'd rather suffer from the bleeding effect instead of the other consequences."

The Elder Mikuru then says "From what I understand, the future you showed us is part of the unaltered timeline, my timeline.. I'm sure there's more you could be telling us, why aren't you, and I know it's not the length of the session, I'm familiar with the object you just used."

Ray sighs and says "I have my reasons for keeping you in the dark. Just think of them like the reasons you keep Haruhi in the dark."

Nagato then replies "I understand, as you are from the future, you are working to avert that future, how we react to information given can affect the success of your mission and you believe we will react adversely to all the information given, meaning we would either ensure or even accelerate the future you seek to prevent."

These words sink into the other brigade members present as Ray simply nods and says "That's correct. I will reveal more when the time comes, but until then I hope we can put our hostilities towards eachother aside for the common good of the universe, everyone...everything will be affected by the future I came from, all of you stand to lose if I fail. Humanity would die, The Future would become nonexistent and the Integrated Data Thought Entity would cease to function. I aim to prevent all of that."

* * *

Little more was said as they let the revelations sink in, though Nagato immediately left, being a TFEI she already processed the information as it was given. What seemed like days was actually seconds to them as they went their way in preparation for the next day and the day after that...

* * *

There was still more work to be done, more missions to accomplish and more secrets to be unearthed.

* * *

11010112201

* * *

Kyon laid still on his bed after a seemingly uneventful day. It had been a week and not much else was said. He was sure a lot of thoughts came to mind but at the same time nobody was talking about it, not amongst the brigade anyway and certainly not with him. But then his cell phone rang.

He picked it up and awnsered "Hello?"

On the other end was Sasaki, who said "Kyon, it's me, we need to talk." Kyon sat up and replied "Sasaki? What's going on?"

Sasaki paused for a moment before replying "It's important. Tachibana-san asked me to call you and ask if you'll meet us at the train station again at the usual time. Something is off though, I would appreciate it if you brought someone who's able keep you safe, she was dead serious and wouldn't tell me anything other than that it was urgent."

Something wasn't right here, another meeting after what happened a few weeks ago when Suyou and Ray had a grudge match in closed space? Kyon decided to reply "Alright, I'll be cautious, is there anything else?"

The phone hanged up.

Sasaki didn't reply on the other end, something was seriously wrong and though as much as he didn't want to, Kyon had two choices, he could ask Nagato, or he could ask Ray.

Kyon pondered for a while before picking up his phone again and dialing Ray's number.

Ray answered right away saying "I'm surprised you're calling me, is something up?" Kyon then said "Sasaki just called me and I'm not sure what's going on, she said Kyoko wants me to meet them at the train station tomorrow, she specifically asked if I could bring someone that could keep me safe, as if she was expecting something bad to happen, and worse, after I asked her about that, she just hung up. It doesn't sound good and though I should be going to Nagato about this but something just tells me I'll be better off with you."

Ray sighed and said "Alright I'll help, this is rubbing me the wrong way as well. We'll meet near the school before heading to the station."

Kyon then replied "Thanks...I'll see you tomorrow." and with that he hanged up before laying back down on the bed, he couldn't help but feel concern for Sasaki more than for himself for some reason.

* * *

Same Time, some alleyway

* * *

Ray who was dressed in his Assassin's Robes released his index finger from his ear and turned his head towards someone in a suit who was being grabbed by Ray's left hand, hidden blade extended in his right hand, saying "That better not be related to SEELE..." before driving his blade into the man's heart and disposing of the body with Kamui.

Ray sighs and gets up after cleaning his blade and activating his Gauntlet of Eden and accessing it with a HUD and selects two names from a list on his HUD.

Ezio Auditore and Edward Kenway.

Ray then says to himself "It's a good thing I can bring these people back temporarily at least with this device."

Ray then proceeds to shroud himself, becoming invisible.

* * *

To be continued...

* * *

Afterword

I'll clear some things up here incase you didn't get them.

Ray used the apple of eden like an Animus here, showing select memories to the SOS-dan from both him and to an extent, Ezio (thanks to a memory disc aka Masayf Key)

And yes, Yamatai from Tomb Raider, Ezio's been there according to this chapter, though he wasn't able to kill her, someone else will do it for him in the present.

Aizo is Duran, after all he is a shapeshifter and has used various names across the pages of history. He did not assume his Duran persona yet at the time he manipulated Ezio into releasing some of the Sun Queen's psionic energy (which you can assume was collected for the purpose of resurrecting Amon)

Aita's message for Ray not properly grammar lined on purpose because of the translation software he used to leave the message wasn't complete as the first civilization don't speak English, they have their own language and use a translator to communicate (The reason their so cryptic is because of the way their translation software is programmed.)

His message also occurred in the first unaltered timeline (Before Ray was sent back in time by Tassadar and long before the events in any of the Starcraft Games.)

[Spoiler Alert for Assassin's Creed IV:Black Flag and Assassin's Creed III]

. . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . .

Aita's message was before the experiment that sent him into an endless cycle of rebirth as the "Sage" meaning at the time he left the message he was still in his original body, not yet killed the first time by Juno (which was mercy killing because he was in a catatonic state when the experiment did not go as planned).

Because the translator wasn't perfect there were still grammar errors (like how when your reading Desmond's Email in AC3 and Juno's first and second emails make little to no sense)


	7. VI

"Nothing is true, Everything is permitted"

* * *

Chapter VI : The Gathering Storm

* * *

Ray woke up early as his clock remained silent at 4:07 am. He got up and strapped on his hidden blades and opened a lock only his blade could open, it doubling as a key. Opening a rather large chest containing brilliantly tailored Italian Robes, modified with more modern means of protection such as Kevlar and other fiber-optic means of protection meant to stop bullets, but also brimmed over and under them are thin but slightly golden metal sheets, most likely of first civilization origin, other than the modern armor additions it was an exact duplicate of Ezio's Robes, white and red. White for the innocence protected and red for the blood spilled.

Ray dressed in the robes and strapped on several attachments for his hidden blades including hidden pistols, torque operated grappling hooks and other equipment only a modern assassin would be privy to. His eyes went red as he himself swirled out of existence via kamui into a dimension of large blocks that looked like skyscrapers without windows as he simply jumped on the adjacent one and swirled before a bewildered Kyon at the front gate of their school.

* * *

Kyon broke the silence saying "Isn't that conspicuous?" to which Ray replied "If Sasaki was in a state of duress it's best they don't know I'm here, I can simply do this and they will be none the wiser.".

With those words said he pushed a small button on his left arm which shrouded Ray, blending in perfectly so much that if he remained silent further he'd believe Ray wasn't there at all.

Ray then said "I only plan on making myself known if they pick a fight, I'll be close by incase they try to cause a closed space environment and I will warn you. If Suyou gets out of hand, I won't go easy on her like I did during that incident two weeks ago."

* * *

10101212

* * *

"Go Easy? Is that what that grudge match was?"

Those words echoed in Kyon's mind and he walked towards the train station seemingly alone, though in reality he could somehow feel Ray's presence by the fluster of the robes he wore in the wind that blew towards them.

Sure enough standing there at the usual place was Sasaki and them. Fujiwara, whom might also be called Hakeda, Tachibana Kyoko, Konou Suyou and someone he was unfamiliar with, a man of African Descent, obviously an adult dressed in a black trenchcoat who broke the silence saying "You can show yourself, that stealth module you rigged is pathetic to say the least."

* * *

1010120012

* * *

Sure enough Ray revealed himself dressed in the robes of the Italian Assassin as he decloaked to the surprise of Sasaki's group save of course for none other than Samir Duran.

Ray replied in the direction of Tachibana "You do realize you're making a deal with the devil..."

Her response was "We share a common enemy, you. I would appreciate if we didn't have a repeat performance of two weeks ago." Ray simply replied "We won't because if you give me cause to fight, this time I'll fight to kill."

Those words caused fear in both Fujiwara and Tachibana, Sasaki also seemed somewhat scared though not from Ray's words, he could tell she was scared from the start, and had been scared for some time most likely. Ray decided to continue speaking, saying "If we're going anywhere with this conversation it's not involving that thing. He's not human and Suyou can confirm that."

Suyou indeed did confirm it by saying "He is an entity we have not encountered before in all of our existence. This is precisely why we are interested in him, to learn. Just as we are interested in this planet which is otherwise insignificant, to learn about your form of life. Carbon Based Life."

Ray could tell she made a good job of studying the data he let go unsecured intentionally to make conversation with her easier, she no longer had the lack of consistency or communication skills she had prior to today and possibly knew more English than Japanese at this point considering it was the focused language in his database as it was his first language.

Fujiwara then said "Ray, I don't know exactly what your intentions are but I want to make it clear that if you get in our way we will do everything in our power to deal with you. Even going so far as to align with strangers and worse."

Ray knew the meaning behind those words as he said "SEELE cannot be trusted, nor should you even try to. They are openly attempting to incite Tachibana's organization into direct conflict with Koizumi's." shifting his focus to Kyon he continued speaking, saying "Kyon, this is bigger than you think, if those two organizations duke it out there will be no containing the situation, it'll mean a new era of global proxy wars, they're not just limited to the city, both of these organizations are global superpowers with standing armies large enough to challenge both the East and West and win if they wanted to."

Both Kyon and Sasaki were stunned by this revelation as Duran broke the silence saying "Whether you agree or not doesn't matter. Your presence is interesting but insignificant to say the least. If provoking me is your intent you will not be able to succeed. I serve a power beyond your comprehension and I have no interest in the two Shinjin, their power isn't compatible with my plans, it cannot be used for the restoration."

Ray replied "I can provoke you at any time, I know your previous alias, Aizo, and I know the aliases you'll use in the future."

Duran replied "The future is fixed, it cannot be changed, no matter how many times you split the timeline it will always end the same way, with his resurrection."

Kyon stepped back a little after hearing the name Aizo in play, that was the man who deceived Ezio in the vision Ray showed the SOS-dan. Ray on the other hand took a step forward, extending his hidden blade saying "I don't know what your game is on Earth but I will always be there to interfere however I can, this you already know. I also know about the little cover up you made to defer anyone who breaks the information blockade over the prefecture." with those words Ray pulls out a manga book labeled the Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi before saying "Ironic that your cover up is exactly what I needed to confirm my theories. I also know things that aren't in this book, it's light novel origins and its anime counterpart. Dare I speak the truth of exactly how you'll transfer power from Haruhi to Sasaki?"

Tachibana stepped forward and without holding back some anger that was seething inside her she shouts "Have you any idea the difference that could be made? Some sacrifices must be done, if you say anything further on this subject I won't hold back any longer."

Ray chuckled as she finished, saying "Afraid Sasaki will decide not to cooperate? Is that why you're potentially strong arming her now? I can see the fear in her eyes plain as day. Hell I can smell it because of it's strength." Ray forms a Murasama Blade in his hand with a strange sheath, armed with a bullet magazine and trigger close to the slot where the sword's hilt rests as he continues to speak, saying "This is my counterbalance, my instrument of death. I'm through playing by the rules, you're method of transfer is a fatal action, I used to think like you, that Sasaki was better suited but when I realized you'll be killing Haruhi in the process I resolved to abandon that method and seek another. I might fail, I might not stop the coming end but I can say this with absolute certainty. I'll be damned if I sit back and do nothing while you suck the life out of another human being just to make a false god!"

There was silence, it shuddered both Sasaki and Kyon as those words came out of Ray's mouth who was now panting, seemingly in anger. Kyon thought Ray could snap at any moment, using that sword for it's purpose against Kyoko and the others.

Is what he said true? Will the transfer of power kill Haruhi? By the look on Sasaki's face this is the first she's ever heard of that. He is definitely sure that she never knew anything of the like. She would never condone such an action even if she did want such power.

Sasaki took a look at Ray who merely nodded and placed his index finger on the trigger of the sheath, holding the grip of the blade with his right hand as he formed a stance, looking dead into Duran's eyes with the intent to kill. There was no avoiding what came next, it was faster then even the shapeshifter could react to.

* * *

11- Binary interrupted.

* * *

Ray sliced Duran clean in half, his injured positions cauterised instantly as red electricity cackled throughout the crimson blade, the gunshot echoed across the area deafening Sasaki and Kyon but not the others, Suyou being a Non-Biological and the others most likely used to the sound of gunfire.

Ray turned towards Suyou who formed another Nanite shield only for it to broken and lose her left arm in the process of evading, Ray continued to pursue as he noticed Sasaki dashing towards Kyon shouting "Let's get out of here now!"

Ray dashed back, being between Sasaki and the others, shouting "Leave! Find a place to hide or a place that's saf-" Ray was interrupted by a massive bolt of lighting coming at him, his Nanite shield collapsed under its strength though nothing else occurred, Duran stood there in one piece again, only with an orange aura forming around where he was cut as Ray forms a different stance, sheathing his blade and dashing into the fray once more.

* * *

Kyon and Sasaki just kept running down the street as Suyou tried to break through to intercept only for Ray to interdict her movements with sword strikes and parries as Duran focused only on killing Ray with sheer force, sending several inhumanly shaped tentacles that shifted from what used to be his arms at Ray, sharp talons charged with a sinister dark lighting which slammed into the pavement as Ray evaded rather than attempting to parry them and sent a charge of energy from the Gauntlet of Eden in Duran's direction, slicing off his left shoulder and in extension, the tentacles on it stopped moving.

Ray activated the Gauntlet which began to glow brightly, forming golden grids which took solid shape and form of two people.

Ezio Auditore da Firenze and Edward Kenway, who while puzzled looks came across their faces, they acted beyond human capacity, likely augmented from the Gauntlet's energies so much that they were able to fight at the pace of Suyou and Duran with equal force.

Ezio spoke saying "Merde! What happened, and why is my body moving of its own volition?", Edward also was confused as he drew his pistol swords and began a relentless attack against Suyou, saying "Don't know mate but from what I can tell it's got to be the work of an artifact."

Ray dashed forward at an opening, decapitating Duran and continuing to mutilate his now headless main body with his sword, knowing full well that the damage he's done so far isn't enough. Ray telepathically sent a message to both Assassins saying "I'll explain everything later when I get the chance, for now simply know you fight against those who share the same beliefs of the Templars. As for you Ezio, this man is the latest form of Aizo."

Ezio began to fight of his own accord, no longer being puppeted though still augmented, he knew Aizo was not human and it was not out of the question that he would have changed appearance. Aizo was not the first persona of the shapeshifter Ezio had known, if only he had more discs he could have left more messages of the man's actions, but for now he knew one thing more. That young oriental woman was also not human, able to keep up with him in his augmented state and perform unbelievable acts as he had just dodged several white energy spikes.

* * *

The pace of the fight changed as Ray sent another arc shot from his gauntlet towards Suyou, immediately severing the arm she regenerated moments after said regeneration, Duran moved to a defensive state as he had two augmented Master Assassins relentlessly assaulting him, just barely dodging a hidden pistol shot from Ezio only to be shot several times by Edward's pistols which glowed slightly after firing, reloading a new round at a pace the old muzzle loaders shouldn't be able to reload.

Ray's eyes glowed brighter as he charged a massive arc of red lighting through his sword whilst charging Duran, sheathing his blade and quickly using the Gundraw feature to deliver another deadly blow at which Duran reformed his shape again only to dash away from them while saying "Who knows how long it will take to recover to full strength now, this isn't over."

Ray wastes no time as he intends to end the shapeshifter's meddling here and now, firing several arc shots at Duran, weakening him further as he uses his depleting psionic energy to regenerate severed limbs cut off from the Gauntlet of Eden or Ray's High-Frequency Murasama.

Ezio draws his crossbow for a quick shot, but when the arrow comes into contact with Duran it explodes in a golden energy pulse which knocks Duran back further.

Duran now sees that he's both outnumbered and outmatched here and decides to retreat, forming some kind of wormhole behind him as he dashes back once more as it closes just as Ray fires an arc shot into it. Ray curses under his breath and turns towards Suyou who has again regenerated a lost arm.

* * *

Ray converts his Assassin allies into energy for the gauntlet, dismissing their presence and he now faced Suyou alone, Fujiwara and Kyoko have ran off to avoid the conflict occurring and Ray could hear sirens in the distance.

This was not in a constricted data jurisdiction zone nor in closed space, this was happening in real time and there are witnesses, if he wasn't in his robes he would easily be identified, this is what he expected however as Suyou is not like the IDTE's terminals. She cannot enclose a region in a pocket dimension, she's forced to fight in the local space she's present. Granted she can escape or infiltrate data jurisdiction zones but not create them.

Ray charges at Suyou who forms a Nanite Blade which is able to take Ray's HF Blade's normal strikes. Ray continues to parry attacks and counterattack with his blade and gauntlets which in his left hand forms an EDEN Blade to impale Suyou.

Ray swirls around with Suyou in tow, tossing her across the area and onto the hood of a police car that arrives, her wounds heal and she outright ignores the normal humans around them which have them at gunpoint.

Ray flickers only to slice off the hands of the policemen present at a superhuman pace, disarming them without killing them before turning to parry one of Suyou's Nanite Blade strikes as the fight heats up.

* * *

Ray's entire body suddenly cackles with red electricity as he notices the policemen suddenly disappear and he can feel a presence approaching at high speed, another Non-Biological. Ray suddenly dashes back to avoid a knife strike from none other than Asakura Ryoko and he quickly ducks and leg sweeps at Nagato Yuki who is also now present.

Ray withdraws slightly and says "Why are you aggressing against me? Doesn't your Integrated Data Thought Entity stand to benefit more from my assistance?"

Yuki replies "Communication is now possible with the Canopy Dominion who have reidentified themselves as the Angels. We have more in common regarding our direction towards Earth than previously assumed, it is in our best interests for the interface Konou Suyou to remain physically functional compared to if we allowed you to destroy the physical terminal."

Ray sighs and replies "In short, you stand to benefit more if Suyou is permitted to live, I hope you're making the correct choice here, I'll cease my aggression against her if you ensure Suzumiya Haruhi's safety."

Nagato replies "My responses are currently restricted at the moment and I am being ordered to not interfere with terrestrial affairs at the moment. We will neither directly assist nor directly oppose Suzumiya Haruhi and those who surround her, instead we will observe and identify the best possible course of action. But the Integrated Data Thought Entity also states that if you make any attempt to notify Kyon of my current restrictions that are being imposed then Suzumiya Haruhi will be dealt with more directly."

Ray's eyes shift color to purple as he looks in the direction of the two, charging a purple electrical current through the crimson red blade in his hand while saying "And I assume both you and Asakura oppose this decision?" Nagato replies "Our actions are restricted, if we do not follow orders our physical terminals will be permanently deleted."

Ray sighs and flickers behind them, only to be caught by Asakura's knife which is deflected by Ray's hidden blade, his right hand swipes the air above both Nagato and Asakura's heads, they suddenly dash backwards away from Ray, Asakura with a confused look on her face and Nagato lowering her hands and ceasing hostilities.

Nagato replies "You severed our connection to the Integrated Data Thought Entity in a way that cannot be repaired..." Ray sighs and sheathes his blade, saying "I'm asking you once and only once, assist me in keeping Haruhi safe, I've shown you the future, you of all people should have processed that information more accurately than the others, if Haruhi dies, so too does the universe and there is nothing your IDTE can do to stop it alone."

Ryoko chuckles and says "I'm free to do as I please right?". Ray's face gets serious and he replies "Keep in mind that you're completely severed, I'm sure there are no backups in the IDTE of your data, if you're so interested in observing death I can arrange that." as he says this Ray puts his finger on the trigger of the HF Murasama's sheath, staring in Ryoko's direction as if about to truly kill her, she replies calmly, saying "With your presence I'm sure there will be plenty of reactions to observe, I have no need to kill Kyon to provoke a reaction from Suzumiya-san, I'm sure you can cause such reactions with words alone."

Ray shifts his eyes to Suyou's direction, she has been remaining still for a while but he can tell she's restored her Nanite Shield. Suyou then says "There is still a chance for you two to remain non-hostile, continue your orders regardless of the severed link."

Ryoko grins and says "I never really did agree with the majority." while throwing several data spikes in Suyou's direction who again manages to escape the data jurisdiction zone which then collapses, the police confused at their sudden appearance around to which Ryoko simply kills them with data spikes rising out of the ground while saying "No witnesses, I guess I'll be transferring back to North High."

Ray then says "There was another way to silence them without taking their lives, the same artifact that was used to show Nagato the future I came from."  
Ryoko replies "Then you should have used it before I acted, my method was faster and more permanent."

Ray flickers and impales Ryoko from behind with a Nanite Blade before pulling his blade out, her injury healing, but her body motionless as Ray says "I've injected a large amount of nanomachines in your body, at any time I can restrict your movements, I'll need to augment the two of you later however as your capabilities are extremely limited when separated from the IDTE, it shouldn't be that hard considering the kind of tech I've had to reverse engineer in the future."

* * *

1 day later, Nagato's Apartment

* * *

The SOS-dan remained present, including both the elder Asahina and younger Asahina, but not Haruhi. The thing that was un-nerving Koizumi however was Sasaki's presence.

Ray sighed and said "We have a problem, it's obviously no longer safe for Sasaki to attend her old school or even remain at her house, I've already talked to her parents and she will be staying here, the situation is getting bad and the Data Overmind as you call it is now our enemy, I've permanently severed Nagato and Asakura Ryoko from it and therefore we can trust them."

Kyon spoke up, saying "I'm definitely trusting of Nagato but Asakura Ryoko is a completely different story, She's tried to kill me before and won't hesitate at the first opportunity!" Ray sighed and said "I've implanted a large amount of nanomachines in her to restrict her actions, and being severed from the Integrated Data Thought Entity means she lacks the support needed to remove or hack the nanomachines and even then it would be a difficult task, they will automatically restrict her actions if they are hostile towards you, Suzumiya or the SOS-dan but also at the same time I can physically control her completely if necessary, as if she were a puppet. I'm sure her return will cause Haruhi to get a little suspicious but it won't last that long or be a real issue, Koizumi covered up an incident I'd rather not explain at the moment so we shouldn't worry about that. I've already augmented the two so they'll be able to use abilities slightly different but on par with what they were able to do prior, and without a connection to the IDTE they are no longer bound to it's restrictions."

Kyon then says "If the...IDTE did anything too far then I'-" Ray interrupts him saying "The IDTE threatened to kill Haruhi before you could use your trump card, it's hostile now and I'll make sure it remains out of play, for now we need more allies and I know the perfect solution."

Koizumi then says "I've already spoken with Ray on the subject and have arranged a meeting with several important individuals who have access to equipment we will need, but it will come at a significant cost."

The Elder Asahina then says "We can only trust them so far, their interests are selfish and we can't put too much trust in them, but we can put trust in their project that was designed exactly for a hostile encounter with extraterrestrials." Kyon then says "And who are they?"

Ray's face becomes serious as he takes a breath before saying "The Council of Nations is what they are called, they are made of up representatives of the world's key economic, technological and military powers including Russia, China and the United States. With them on our side we effectively have all of Earth on our side, the project they've established will be activated to deal with this situation we have here. It is called the XCOM Project and they have access to facilities even Koizumi's Organization does not have. They are the perfect counterbalance to SEELE and the IDTE."

* * *

To be continued...

* * *

Afterword : Well that's it for this chapter, I'll be taking a short break from new chapters for a while as I've just got a new game and intend to play through it.

There are many counterbalances to the IDTE other than Ray or Haruhi and XCOM is only one of them.

Time to explain a few things but first a warning.

I'm tired of having to place a spoiler warning on all my afterwords so I'm making this the last. ALL of the following afterwords have a chance of containing a spoiler for Starcraft II (a really high chance). It goes without saying there are spoilers for the Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi regarding the manga, now onto the afterword.

* * *

This battle with Duran/Narud will prevent him from directly acting further, he's taken such a big injury that he won't be able to fight alone effectively anymore, which is evidenced in Heart of the Swarm where the only way he was able to injure Kerrigan was with psychological warfare (using Raynor's form and her uninfested form to cause her to hesitate in her attacks.)

Nagato and Ryoko will no longer be using their usual abilities such as making a durable Data Restriction Space or using Data Spikes and the like, Ray has augmented them with various nanotech abilities similar to his own (though his psionic attributes will remain out of their reach)

Ray's HF Murasama Blade is an exact replica of Jetstream Sam's HF Murasama from Metal Gear Rising:Revengeance and acts exactly like such though he can augment it's performance further because of his psionic abilities and his otherwise superhuman abilities and nanotech gives him even more of an advantaged compared to a military cyborg from MGR, even compared to Raiden.

Also I will clarify a few things such as acronyms and the like.

I don't know what TFEI means as I've yet to see Koizumi explain what that Acronym represents though I know they use it when referring to people like Nagato and Suyou. IDTE is Integrated Data Thought Entity, the long version of "Data Overmind" which I believe is either an inaccurate translation or a simplification for the English translations.

SEELE is the organization that funds NERV in the NGE Series (Better known simply as Evangelion). Their interests in Haruhi and Sasaki are the same as my previous fanfic Return of the Gods (Using her power to further their plans for a third impact.)

If you are a fan of NGE then you should know what I mean when the Canopy Dominion clarified that they are called the Angels, they are the ones who will cause the Second Impact, Humanoid Interfaces were made for infiltration actions only and they have used a humanoid angel before in the later parts of the series.

I plan on intertwining the following series' into this fanfiction. I wont tell you exactly how because that would be a spoiler but I'm telling you this so you have a chance to look up the lore on those series' if you don't already know them.

Some obviously I've already shown but I'll say it again.

NGE (Evangelion)

InFamous

and XCOM:Enemy Within

* * *

till next time...


	8. VII

"There are two possibilities. Either we are alone in the universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying."

* * *

Chapter VII: Last Sunset

* * *

Unknown Location, The Following week..

* * *

The long hallway of unearthly design didn't seem to bother Ray as he walked forward to a rather thin man facing away from him. Ray grabbed the grip of his blade and said "I was expecting something higher up than you..."

The man replied in English "One such as yourself should know you need not directly speak to them to converse with them. Our minds are all linked, state your intent, proposal and we will consider it."

Ray sighed and replied "I'm sure you are aware of both the Non-Biologicals present on Earth and of the coming darkness you intend to prevent. The one who would assist you is an agent of the darkness as I've already proven."

The man replied "Had you not exposed him we would not have even considered this meeting. Since then we are now more cautious in who we trust. If not EXALT then why should we trust even you. Your allies have less equipment and others would fight against all odds. Do not mince words with us, explain your plan."

Ray responded flatly, saying "I will tell you which targets to hit and how, what the nations of this time consider classified information is historical information available to children where I came from. The Japanese Islands will not be a valid target for you or the situation will suddenly reverse on you. XCOM will oppose you and that is exactly what I want to happen. A conflict between XCOM and the Ethereal ones will be an incident the IDTE cannot ignore and it will divert attention to the conflict. I'm sure it will put together the puzzle and assume I instigated it but we're already on hostile terms. My goal is simply the survival of a certain human and the destruction of the coming darkness. There is a long road to accomplishing this but it starts with provoking what would be known as the Great Invasion of 2015 and making it happen two years early. My intent is simple, I intend for the human race to survive the coming darkness and if that isn't possible then destroy the darkness afterwards and plant the seed for humanity's revival as a species the same way you have been augmenting other races with the gift to combat the coming end of all things."

The thin man turned around to face Ray, wearing sunglasses and having a rather anorexic appearance in addition to a greenish tint at the base of his lower-neck. He seemed to do nothing for a moment before replying "Very well, we will agree to your plan as long as it shows chance of success."

Ray grins at hearing this and activates a holographic data storage device.

* * *

The following day - Tokyo, Japan.

* * *

Ray waited at the top of a skyscraper as a man approached him, dressed in a grey robe with some kind of device on his right arm, a kind of gauntlet which is conducting electricity. Ray is the first to speak, saying "Here we stand, two men of the future, I take it you've read my proposal Kessler?"

Kessler replied "Yes, I agree to it. I hope you know what you are doing however, the world won't be approving of this sudden revelation nor will they be open to coexistence between Humans and Conduits."

Ray sighed and replied "I know what I'm doing. Sooner or later the truth will come out and I intend for it to be sooner rather than later. The improved schematics regarding the RFI will be sent directly to Wolfe by the usual method I suppose."

Kessler nodded and looked up, saying "Like you, I no longer belong, I sometimes wonder if it will work out. Will he accept the responsibility that will be placed on him or will he make the mistakes I did."

Ray replied "Cole will see the light, I'm sure of it. I'm just going to make sure when he does, he survives..."

* * *

1010120012, later that night

* * *

Ray's "Sick Days" were increasing, no doubt making allies. Kyon couldn't stop thinking about what the elder Asahina's actions either. She suddenly shows up and says they will be making all kinds of meetings, though save for Koizumi the rest of the SOS-dan hasn't been involved in any level that he could notice. With the next Tanabata Festival approaching Ray said he would be absent that day, some excuse about a religious retreat, more likely meeting with some clandestine organization or the like. Though despite the hostility that is being mentioned the days have gone by uneventful. Something that makes Kyon even more uneasy as it isn't the first time he's felt a calm before a storm...

* * *

1010120120120, the following morning

* * *

Tanabata was coming up, Ray knew it was only a matter of time before his plan kicked in. On Tanabata he would pretend to be on a religious retreat. Instead he would be making a pre-emptive attack on SEELE and thanks to his allies both near and far, he couldn't fail. But he wasn't going to let himself become overconfident, his enemy is not just SEELE but also the IDTE who whether they realize it or not are playing straight into Amon's hands.

The sick days got him this far, using his nanomachines to mimic symptoms and thus fooling both the school and more importantly, Haruhi. But being sick for too long would cause Haruhi to become suspicious and possibly overconcerned which has a chance to make Ray truly sick given her power, though sooner or later that won't be an issue. Sasaki is safe, under the protection of Koizumi's faction who Ray has managed to successfully scare into helping her. The threat of allowing threats beyond their control go unchecked and even managing to convince the Tsuruya family to withdraw all their support if anything happens to her by any side, intentional or not. And they are the only thing keeping them afloat in the current situation. The younger Mikuru seems to be wary of him and the elder Mikuru is more willing to help but at the same time more of a possible danger considering she may grow desperate to repair her timeline, not knowing that it is a doomed one.

But for now Ray must set these things aside and approach an opportunity he cannot ignore.

* * *

Osaka, Japan. 2014 - Abstergo Industries, Japanese Division

* * *

Ray stood on the top of a nearby skyscraper dressed in a white armored suit with his HF Murasama blade resting on his left hip, gauntlets of EDEN recolored to blend with the rest of his armor.

Quickly Ray jumped down from 200 feet and began to run down the windows of his building before suddenly launching himself towards the nearby 15 story building, breaking the glass of the windows behind him and only seconds after smashing into the glass of the other building, pulling the trigger on the scabbard which sends a gunshot, rapidly drawing the Murasama which Ray grabs effortlessly to slice an Abstergo guard in half who was unaware of what killed him because of the sheer speed of the attack and entry.

The building was aware of his presence because of the sound made by the gun-draw as Ray called it. His face partially covered by a metallic mask and helmet as more guards stormed through the nearby doors and fired pistol rounds which Ray didn't even bother for his Nanite shield to act, his new armor already impervious to the 9mm rounds used by Abstergo.

Ray dashed at inhuman pace through the building, slicing through guards as he made his way down in his otherwise unexpected and unprovoked assault on Abstergo's Japanese Division. Slashing through the metal barricades which attempted to lockdown the building, Ray saw no effort in this mission as he reached the computer room and began to hack into the server simply by stabbing the keyboard with his Nanite Blade which formed seemingly out of air, the nanites doing the work for him.

Ray succeeded in transferring something into the building's server and he uploaded a virus which severed all internet connection to all computers in the building and made his way to the 5th floor via the stairs, again simply cutting through any barricade or guards that dared get in his way.

He then reached the basement and saw a larger network of computers in front of him, a holographic face appeared before him, projected from the main sever. One of a woman's as it spoke in English, saying "I do give you some credit for pulling me from the networks of the world and placing me here, but it will do you no good."

Ray chuckled and caused his Gauntlets to glow gold which contrasted to the white armor he had on, which caused what could be seen as shock in the face as Ray said "Nice try Juno but I've got everything I need to kill you instead of trapping you, I'm not like the Assassins or Templars or even EDEN for that matter. I have no regrets about taking another's life when it is necessary. And you've been alive too long, causing trouble from the machines you left around. With you gone your artifacts will no longer be a potential threat to me and I will be able to use them freely. The Gauntlet is a military tool, not something a civilian like you had access to."

Ray drew his Murasama and formed a cloud of nanites around it as he impaled the projector despite Juno's pleading, sending the holographic face into a flickering pattern before it shuts down, the servers begin to overheat as Ray slices through the ceiling to get to the first floor and leave the building as it collapses in on itself, the nanomachines Ray having infused with the structure eroding it's support beams in a way that it would collapse in a contained and down motion to prevent collateral damage.

Ray quickly dashed past emergency responders of which some took notice and even fired at him to no effect as he ran up the wall of a nearby building before using his Kamui to depart the scene, it had served him well, enabling him to meet with several potential allies without leaving a trail behind. Even Koizumi couldn't keep up with him and there were many meetings he wasn't privy to such as the Ethereal ones and Kessler.

* * *

Tanabata, Nishinomiya, Japan - 2014

* * *

This was the day Ray had been planning for some time, after today Ray hoped only the IDTE would remain as a threat and attention could be focused elsewhere. The rest aren't aware of what's going to happen other than something to attract SEELE's attention. That is this, without NERV to fight for them SEELE will be forced to act in the shadows and with XCOM to be activated soon, they won't get much done.

Ray was in the armor he had used in his raid on Abstergo, with Juno dead he can use the Apple of EDEN without reserve.

Ray looks at the night sky as he sees a plume of fire descend into the outskirts of the secret facility only few know the existence of. NERV HQ, a large purple tinted Pyramid of modern design.

* * *

010101012201

* * *

It seems Ray had intended her to do his dirty work. Ryoko thought this to herself as she cut down another guard in the facility and hacked, rather easily, into their security system, disabling their early warning systems as a nearby blast door suddenly blew open with a large melted hole, in walking a mechanical construct Ray had called a Sectopod which proceeded to launch a barrage of rockets in the direction of a security team that came out of another room only to meet their end, Ryoko shrugged as she took advantage of her new abilities, she considered losing full data-manipulation an upgrade to the new powers she wielded as she charged her knife with electricity and sent several bolts of lightning at another security team. They were armed with the best humanity had to offer and still it was not enough. And how could it be? The weapons given to her were literally 500 years more advanced than anything they had seen, being technology of the future.

Ray swirled into sight and before Ryoko could say anything he cut down several stealthed guards Ryoko had not noticed which Ray replied to saying "I gave you ocular implants for a reason, use them. You can't just simply sense objects anymore, you need to get used to your newfound individuality or you'll end up dead sooner or later." with these words said Ray drew a pistol and gunned down three more guards who entered as several large creatures Ray had identified as Mutons charged in firing rifles which discharged a green tinted ionized plasma at their targets. Ryoko had been aware of several forms of life though she had never seen or been aware of anything to this scale, they either had to be nomadic or also from the future.

* * *

1010120122

* * *

Going deeper into the facility after only three hours of starting the attack Ray's sensor began to beep, XCOM was responding to the situation and he turned his head towards Ryoko and said "They're punctual I'll give them that."

* * *

Surface, NERV HQ Exterior, two minutes later

* * *

A large craft known as "The Skyranger" landed and dropped off four heavily armed soldiers who quickly took positions just outside the war zone that was apparent. Destroyed cars, scars of plasma burns and corpses, some torn apart and apparently something having burst out of rather than being eviscerated from the exterior.

One of the men, highest in rank of the squad going by Delta-1 said "This is Delta-One to central, it's a war zone over here, no X-RAYs in sight yet but definitely they have to be here somewhere, I can still hear gunfire in the distance. Orders?"

On the Radio someone replied, saying "This is Central, receiving you loud and clear, orders are to investigate the facility, eliminate all encountered X-RAYs and if possible find out what this place is to begin with." Delta One replies "Roger that Central, Strike One initiating Operation Welcome Committee."

* * *

With hand gestures Delta One led the squad through cover of the debris and ruins before taking plasma fire from several small creatures which show up in their HUD as Sectoids. After a concentrated barrage the three sectoids go down easily with Delta Squad unscathed in the short firefight. They proceed into the structure after marking several artifacts such as self-destructed weapons and the corpses with encrypted GPS markers so they can keep track of it once the site is considered clear.

Deeper inside the facility Delta One says "Delta Three, you're from this country right? We'll need you to translate for us if we encounter any survivors and also to read the written language in this facility which we'll assume is Japanese." The woman nods her head and says "There's a computer terminal up ahead, I'll be able to access it easily considering the damage an-" Delta 3 is interrupted by plasma fire which kills their fourth squad member, Delta Four as Delta 1 through 3 take cover.

Delta One shouts "Suppressive Fire!" as he opens fire blindly in the direction of the plasma fire, seeing a pair of Thin Men taking cover as his squad advances to closer cover, firing controlled bursts to kill the humanoid creatures which explode in a cloud of toxic gasses.

* * *

After setting a marker on Delta Four's body and taking his equipment with them the squad follows Delta-3 deeper into the facility and quickly take cover as they spot a muton who also takes cover rapidly and fires a couple of plasma shots at them which likewise miss.

Delta Two lays suppressive fire with his LMG (Light Machinegun) as his squadmates move through cover. Running out of ammo Delta-2 gets back into cover and reloads as he hears gunfire from his squadmates and a large roar from what he assumes is the alien that shows up in his HUD as a Muton.

Delta-1 delivers the final blow with a 5-round burst to the Alien's head from his Assault Rifle, running out of ammo and reloading immediately after realizing this. He signals Delta-3 and 2 and they regroup near a stairway to check their equipment, ammo and make sure none of them are injured.

* * *

010101212120

* * *

Ray cuts down two more SEELE guards with his HF Murasama and Ryoko also kills another two from behind, the two acting like a well coordinated special forces duo when it came to fighting on the same side, no words said between them, merely action alone.

Ryoko quickly ducked to evade a data spike which Ray deflected by activating his Nanite-shield at the last minute to reveal a seemingly 17 year old Japanese man who didn't even bother to talk, he simply formed two Nanite blades and dashed towards Ray who parried a three-strike attack from the TFEI as Ryoko flanked behind and sent her Nanite-reinforced Swiss Army Knife into the hostile TFEI's back as Ray ducked and sliced off it's legs which instead of causing blood, caused a white energy to spill out which caught Ray's attention as he said "He's not meant for normal infiltration, it seems he's been retuned specifically to fight us." Ryoko replied "I can't get a read on him because I'm no longer linked but from what your augments show he is incapable of verbal communication or any form of social dialogue."

Ray sighs as he parries another attack and says "That's basically exactly what I just said, we better kill him quickly before XCOM catches up to us, they aren't supposed to know we're here, to them this is strictly an extraterrestrial incursion, not some strange conspiracy from their own ranks."

Ryoko nods and manipulates nanomachines into three metal spikes which suddenly impale the combat-TFEI from three separate angles as Ray begins to slash at him at an extremely fast pace. To Ray's perception, everything except himself is in slow motion, his eagle vision making a slight blue blur though not as much as it normally does.

After slicing the TFEI into over 1000 pieces it explodes into a stream of data which causes Ray to charge his Murasama with purple electricity and slash just above the data explosion, severing the terminal from the IDTE permanently and because it is severed from the IDTE, the blow is fatal.

* * *

Ray and Ryoko come before a blast door and Ray places a small device on it as Ryoko backs up. Ray gets out of the way just as a Sectopod, the same one that accompanied them at the Facility Exterior smelts through the door with four shots from it's Energy Cannon revealing a large room housing several stasis chambers containing what Ray assumes are clones of the same person as he walks down the isle to an empty stasis chamber, seemed to be fitted for someone with cybernetics rather than a clone or normal human.

Ray's face goes hateful and he sheath's his Murasama only to gun-draw it, slashing straight through the Stasis-Chamber and thus destroying it as red electricity crackles through the blade as he wipes off the green fluid stored in the chamber and sheaths his blade. Ryoko then says "Are you done?"

Ray grins, relaxes and says "Yes, set the plasma bomb."

* * *

1010121212, 15 minutes later

* * *

Delta-1 opens a door only for a blast of red energy to completely incinerate Delta-2 as the survivors take cover, a Sectopod standing in their way next to a green canister which is beginning to glow and hum brighter and louder with each passing second.

Delta-3 fires an electromagnetic bullet at the Sectopod which disables its primary cannon only for a secondary turret to rise out of its back and shoot her in the heart, killing her. Delta One loses all self-control and fires off his entire 30 round clip into the Sectopod which has no effect as the bullets merely bounce off it's armor.

Just as his rifle runs out of ammo the bomb detonates, igniting a massive green explosion across NERV HQ, destroying the surrounding landscape, the Skyranger barely out of range of the detonation as the pilot loses concentration at the sight of the blast, the radio goes static for a minute before it shoots back to life with Central shouting "Strike-One respond damnit! What's going on over there, we have a large explosion in the AO!"

The pilot picks up the radio and says "This is Strike-One, I have no contact with Delta Squad, I'm confirming a large explosion in the Area of Operations and life signs on the monitor are nil. Mission Failed, I repeat, Mission Failure."

* * *

XCOM HQ, Colorado, United States of America

* * *

Central Operations Bradford, simply known as Central slams his fist against the wall as he says over the radio "Roger that Strike-One, return to base, Delta-Squad is considered K.I.A."

* * *

To be continued...

* * *

Afterword:

HUD is an acronym for Heads Up Display

KIA is an acronym for Killed in Action

AO is an acronym for Area of Operations.

Not much to say otherwise, other than XCOM's first response being a failure due to Ray's actions. NERV is no longer an issue though their puppeteer SEELE still is.

To clear some things up just incase you haven't caught on, The cutaways before the main part of the chapter build up the fact that Ray isn't really a legitimate ally of Koizumi's Organization, he's just using them to accomplish his goal of preventing the end of all things. He's playing both sides of the invasion as well. Supporting XCOM with advanced weapons and tactics to fight the IDTE and at the same time giving away what would be classified information (which to a man of the future is fifth grade history) such as weapons capabilities, troop deployment and research projects of the Council Nations to the Ethereal Ones (The Aliens in XCOM:Enemy Unknown) and has become their terrestrial ally instead of EXALT. One could assume he intends to make the conflict either longer or shorter than it should have been.

Till next time...


	9. VIII

"One day you will wake up and realize the world is crazier than you are."

* * *

Chapter VIII : Painful Summer Part 1

* * *

SOS-dan clubroom, 6:22 pm, 2014 AD, 3 days prior to summer

* * *

Ray simply sat back in his chair with his arms crossed, wearing a woodland camo hat which was tilted down to cover his eyes. Still in his school uniform however and the only others present are Suzumiya Haruhi in her chair, meddling around with the computer, Kyon and Koizumi playing a game of checkers, Nagato reading a book and Mikuru preparing tea. It would otherwise seem to be an uneventful day other then the fact Asakura Ryoko having transferred back and Sasaki having transferred in.

Ray placed his hat on the table as Mikuru set tea for everyone. "I could get used to days like this, ignorance would be bliss." were the words going through his head as he sipped the tea, letting his guard down only slightly as if nothing were wrong. But he couldn't let it down all the way, not because of what he knew but because of what he's lived through. He may have the physical form of a 16 year old male but he has lived and endured 40 plus years, most of it as a United Earth Directorate Marine. Hell was a word he used to describe his everyday life. He took a glance around the room before looking at Haruhi who was so focused on the computer planning a summer vacation for the SOS-dan that she was oblivious to Ray's glance which seemed slightly depressed as if he wanted to sigh openly. "Minus Haruhi's usual antics and the transfers the month had been uneventful, neither SEELE, Kyoko's Organization, the IDTE or the Angels have made a move. Most likely because XCOM and the Ethereal Ones are locked in a secret war that the entire world yet alone the city of Nishinomiya is unaware of. I know sooner or later they will send assets to the city to make a play but right now I can say this is a rather long calm before the storm." are the thoughts Ray loses himself in before being snapped back into the real world.

"Is there something you need?" are the words spoken by Haruhi who took notice to Ray's absent-minded stare. Ray replied "Just bored, I hope this vacation will be good. Actually strike that, I'm sure it will be if you're putting so much effort into it." Haruhi replied "Don't you worry, the SOS-dan isn't like all those other boring and idiotic clubs prancing around, we'll have a great time and we might even find something supernatural or the like while we're at it."

Ray closed his eyes, shook his head slightly and said "Sooner or later I'm sure something abnormal will happen but I wouldn't get my hopes up for anything too soon." Haruhi sighed and said "That's because you've only been here just over a month, we've had some interesting experiences that turned out to be just normal things but at the same time they weren't too normal."

* * *

As time passed Ray nodded off with his hat back on head, he would rather nothing abnormal happen too soon, though at the same time if it were simply only Suzumiya's subconscious actions then he wouldn't mind it. After a while Ray woke to a startle, Haruhi was shaking Ray slightly saying "Wake up, it's getting dark. Unless you plan on sleeping here we should head out."

Ray sighed and fixed his hat's position and got up after placing his glasses on. They were really only for show as his eyesight was beyond perfect because of his cybernetics and nano-augmentations and that was excluding Eagle Vision.

* * *

8:12pm, Nishinomiya

* * *

As Ray and Haruhi left the clubroom she suddenly stopped and said "You know, you still haven't brought anything interesting yet." Ray sighed and said "We've had this conversation before, just be patient I have something in mind I just have to make some preparations. It has to be shipped in from the States as I never brought it with me when I came to study abroad."

Haruhi sighed and said "It shouldn't take so long for them to transport something across the ocean, the gaming industry ships millions of products to the US every week, how long can one item take to be shipped here?" Ray replied "Well I do have some other interesting things I could show you, not as much as what seems to be taking forever to get here but regardless very interesting as well, but I'd rather wait until that festival comes, best place to show it."

They continued to walk until they were just outside the school gate in which Haruhi stopped and said "That thing you were talking about in the hallway, I don't suppose you could just show it to me anyway?" Ray scratches the back of his neck as he says "I guess, I'd have to fetch it from my house though."

Haruhi pulls out a pen and small notepad from her pocket and writes down her address before tearing off the page and handing it to Ray saying "This is where I live, go fetch it and show it to me there, plus I wouldn't mind a visitor, I pretty much stick to the same routine when I get back from school, wouldn't hurt to break from it."

Ray took the piece of paper and said "I guess, if you're so curious. But this isn't just a one way line. I show you this and you'll have to wait longer for the other thing, meaning I'll hold onto it when it gets here for a while before showing you." Haruhi chuckled slightly and said "Fine, just be there before 10 or I'll be asleep." Ray nodded and the two went in separate directions.

* * *

Ray's apartment, 8:47pm

* * *

Ray put on one of his hidden blades and used it to unlock a box, the blade changing shape by simple mechanics to match the lock. After opening the box Ray pulled out an old photo, taken six years in the future. In the middle was him, to his right was an older Haruhi and his left the elder Mikuru, all three in combat fatigues with the background a ruined city. Ray caressed the photo slightly with his thumb before setting it back in the box and grabbing his Murasama blade, the blade still crimson red as he had used his nanotech to modify it into a High Frequency Blade, technology not yet even theorized.

Ray checked his digital clock on his table which showed the time was 8:49pm, he said to himself out loud "Never again, I won't let those I care about die. I won't let anyone harm my friends, not SEELE, not the IDTE, not Amon and certainly not the Angels."

"Oh, I didn't know you were the sentimental type." a voice said from behind.

Ray immediately drew the blade and held it to Asakura Ryoko's throat for a moment before sheathing it back in the scabbard. Ray said "What do you want?"  
Ryoko replied "Oh nothing special, I just wanted to know who I'm going to be working with, I didn't expect you to be back so quickly. When was that photo taken? I'm 100% sure that's you in the middle with Suzumiya-san and Asahina-san." Ray replied "From the first time I came back, the 22nd of March, 2020 AD. Taken in this very city during the third world war."

Ryoko smiled slightly and said "Humans seem to always be at eachother's throats throughout history, what started that war?"

Ray replied "A mission gone wrong provoked an open conflict between NATO and it's eastern equivalent called ASDC, of which Japan and South Korea were the only Asian countries not part of the ASDC. I was part of an organization called the Assassin Brotherhood and Abstergo Industries provoked the third world war to take power over what remained, at the time Koizumi's Organization made a PMC Front Company in order to assist NATO whilst Kyoko's organization acted in the shadows with the backing of SEELE and Abstergo. Four hours after this photo was taken Haruhi was killed by Suyou with a .50 Calibur slug. She died in my arms, I have no intention for that to be repeated, is your curiosity satisfied?"

Ryoko nodded and swirled out of sight in the same manner Ray uses to teleport.

* * *

Suzumiya's House, 9:02pm

* * *

Ray rang the doorbell, his sword placed in a long rectangle black case, different from the other case. In this case only the sword was there in it's scabbard with the gundraw mechanism removed. A middle aged Japanese man, likely in his 40s answered the door saying "Ah you must be Raymond, Haruhi said you would be visiting, something about showing her something?"

Ray nodded and said "My full name is Raymond Zenji, you must be Haruhi's father." The man nodded and said "Yes, my name is Suzumiya Hiruzen. Come on in, Haruhi is in the kitchen making dinner so feel free to join us."

* * *

Kitchen, 9:12pm

* * *

Ray couldn't be more satisfied, no matter how great or renowned a chef the Supply Quartermaster Ray knew from his UED days when he held off the Tal'Darim off on Mars in his home timeline was, Haruhi was better.

Ray had made proper introductions with her parents, Suzumiya Hiruzen and Suzumiya Ayame.

The dinner went uneventful save for small talk on things like how schoolwork was going, if Ray was impressed with how Japan is and other things. Haruhi's mother Ayame ate some rather heavily spiced sukiyaki compared to the other plates Haruhi made, had a good sense of humor too as every joke she told to lighten the mood sent the whole room laughing and Ray had not laughed honestly to a joke since his days in the UEDMC (United Earth Directorate Marine Corps).

* * *

Living Room, 9:28pm

* * *

Haruhi who was seated next to Ray on a couch facing a TV said "So what did you bring that's so interesting?" Ray replied "Well like I said it's not too interesting compared to what's being shipped from the states but." Ray placed his black case on the table before continuing, saying "It's a real Murasama Blade, though It's been modified and recast several times throughout the years, believe it or not it was passed down throughout a friend of mine's family before he passed it over to me, he passed away from an incurable illness." as Ray finished he opened up the case and set a sword stand on the table and picked up the blade from the case and unsheathed it, showing the bright crimson red blade and black fiber-optic grip, there also seemed to be a small red trigger just below the hilt facing the same direction as the blade's edge which was seamless and undoubtedly sharper than any other blade.

Haruhi's parents were in awe at the craftsmanship of the blade whilst Haruhi herself seemed only interested in the trigger and the fact the blade was un-naturally crimson red. Haruhi then asked "What's the trigger for?" Ray replied "It was a modification I placed on it myself, keeping the blade deadly and well maintained was an honored tradition in my friend's family, I kept that tradition by placing something I pieced together myself, I like to think of myself as an aspiring inventor."

With those words said Ray sat up, got slightly clear from the others and held the blade in a stance while gripping the trigger and holding it with a tight grip as a red electrical current flowed through the blade, making it glow slightly. Ray said "It sends a high frequency electrical current through the blade causing it to ionize, heat up and vibrate at high speeds, it multiplies the strength of the blade itself thus making it more durable and sharper. I could cut through a 10 inch reinforced steel block in one strike with this." He releases the trigger which turns off the current as he sheaths it and places the sword on the stand.

Haruhi and her parents seemed impressed with both his invention and with the blade. Hiruzen broke the silence, saying "What was your friend's name?"

Ray replied "Samuel Rodrigues, he was born in Brazil and was the son of an owner of a dojo which practiced a variant of the Uradachi swordsmanship style." Ayame then said "Uradachi? Isn't that also known as The Murdering Sword?"

Ray nodded and said "Well yes it's also called that though Rodrigues Style Uradachi is slightly different in it's moves, more kicks and throws, sword butts and other things. The whole style is set to kill but that's only happened once where Sam's father was killed by one of his students. In the end justice was served though and Sam took reins of the dojo. I met him after this incident, I learned the style from him and mixed it with some other things I knew. I taught the results to Sam and he was impressed. I developed techniques for disarming an opponent and other non-lethal methods. I knew Sam for about two years before he passed away, to his eyes I was not just his student but also his best friend and since he died without children he decided to pass on the blade to me."

* * *

Living Room, 9:31pm

* * *

Ray's story intrigued both Haruhi and her parents as they both complimented both the blade and that it seemed his friend was a good man and even expressed condolences over his passing, though Ray had lied partially, Sam wasn't killed by illness, he was killed while helping refugees escape ASDC death squads and if not for his cybernetics he would never have been able to accomplish it at all. Not one refugee died that day and they all viewed Sam as a hero, in the current timeline Sam is off the grid, dispensing "Justice." Those thoughts went through Ray's head for a while and if he can prevent WW3 without compromising Haruhi's safety he was sure he could be good friends with Sam like before.

* * *

Haruhi's parents decided to clean up and turn in to bed whilst Haruhi and Ray chatted about in the living room.

Haruhi spoke first, saying "This was a very interesting night, I suppose whatever is coming from the US would be worth waiting for if you think it's more interesting than this." Ray replied "It is worth waiting for, trust me. It's going to be getting late soon and I imagine tomorrow will be a busy day since there is supposed to be this difficult test prior to summer vacati-".

The door slammed open as two men dashed in, one slamming a stun rod into Ray and the other pulling Haruhi by the hair whilst trying to drag her outside. The men wore no uniform but Ray tapped into Eagle Vision while on the floor and knew they were affiliated with Abstergo.

Ray quickly recovered, the first thug attempted to stun him again but Ray grabbed his hand and broke it whilst kicking him back and grabbing and unsheathing his sword and activating the HF setting as Haruhi's parents dashed into the room to see the attempted kidnapping take place.

Ray leg swept the first thug to the ground and dashed at the other thug who threw Haruhi into the wall and moved his shock baton in a parrying motion only for the Murasama to cut clean through it and drawing blood from the thug's opposing shoulder as the blade continued through without stopping, Ray aimed the blade in this manner so as to not kill the man.

Ray turned around quickly and used his blade to disarm the first thug who got up to charge with his baton, the motion of Ray's sword was mesmerizing to Haruhi and her parents as Ray proceeded to let his left hand grab the thug in the face and slam him into the ground, quick, firm and flawlessly executed as the blow knocked the first thug unconscious. The second thug pulled out a knife and was aiming to seize Haruhi as a human shield though Ray tapped into his abilities partially to make a slightly inhumanly fast dash and impaled the thug's shoulder and squeezed the HF Trigger again, sending an electric jolt through the blade and the thug, knocking him out as Ray withdrew the blade. By the time this fight ended only 34 seconds passed and Hiruzen had reached the phone to call the police. Ray reached into his pocket for a white cloth and cleaned the blood of his sword before sheathing it. Haruhi was petrified with a combination of shock and fear.

* * *

One week later, Nagato's Apartment, 3:19pm

* * *

The incident was logged as a failed breaking and entering, Koizumi made sure the police didn't hold onto Ray's blade though Haruhi was oblivious to the fact Koizumi pulled strings to do that, she believes the police were sympathetic to the reason of self defense and despite several injuries on the thugs part nobody died.

It took a full week to get over it but Haruhi did eventually get over it and during that week the amount of closed space being formed reached a new height that never occurred before. But now it was all back to normal, Haruhi regards the incident as evidence that crime might be rising in the neighborhood though doesn't expect something like this to happen again. For the most part the SOS-dan is here at Nagato's to discuss what they will be doing for summer.

* * *

7:12pm, Nagato's Apartment

* * *

Ray was about to stay with the others to discuss the incident but Haruhi insisted on Ray walking her home.

"She's still a little shaken up with what happened but at least it's not like it was at first, It can't be easy when you first wake up and realize the world is a darker place than you normally assume." are the words going through Ray's head.

* * *

001212010212010

* * *

Ray left with Haruhi though the others stayed, Kyon broke the silence once Haruhi was out of earshot and said "Do we know who did this? Was it really just a random incident or are the others involved with this?"

Koizumi replied "If so they've made a new ally, Abstergo Industries. There are conspiracies all over the place and I believe they are somehow connected with Ezio, the man who we saw in the vision Ray showed us."

Mikuru then said "I'm aware of Abstergo Industries, like before my older counterpart said several things would be declassified and this information was just declassified right now. Abstergo Industries does things in the shadows such as blackmail, kidnapping, murder and financing terrorist and rebel groups all over the world as well as their official businesses such as their Entertainment division and their Security Contracting. It's possible if they know about Haruhi's power then they would be acting on their own with this."

* * *

1012021201012, 7:48pm

* * *

Ray was walking alongside Haruhi to her house which was likely just a few more minutes away when Haruhi decided to speak, saying "Ray, your house is locked up right?" Ray replied "Yes I always lock up before I leave, why?"

Haruhi paused for a bit before replying "I was just wondering if you would be ok with staying the night at my house, we have a guest room. Would you stay over for the night?"

Ray stared at Haruhi for a few seconds and realized what was going on. She no longer feels safe, she hasn't gotten over what happened, she just acts like she has in front of the others. But it seems she feels safe if Ray is present which would make sense after seeing Ray's swordsmanship skills with the added fact that though she doesn't know this, Ray has nothing to fear from baton wielding thugs or even gun wielding thugs if things went that far, though the latter would force Ray to reveal his capabilities to Haruhi, he got away with boosting his speed slightly but deflecting bullets with a sword, especially if their using automatic weapons would be a dead giveaway.

Ray decided to speak after a while, saying "Alright, I don't need to get anything and there's nothing I need to take care of at my house so I can spend the night over at your place." Haruhi nodded and replied "Thank you..."

* * *

Haruhi's House, Guest Bedroom, 11:30pm

* * *

Ray laid on the bed and held up his arm to his own sight and turned off the holographic emitters, showing the Gauntlets of Eden and the fact that they are grafted in his arm, being his arms directly and not just simply attached. He moves his finger across the gauntlet, warm but metallic before reactivating the emitter and checking its feel again, warm and feeling like human skin. When he took the gauntlets from under Abstergo's nose he believed they would not trace it back to him. "Did they trace it back or did Kyoko strike a deal with them to come after Haruhi, now that I think about it they were concerned with kidnapping Haruhi and not me so it's likely the latter." are the words going through his head. He got out of bed and activated Eagle Vision and took it a step further, seeing through walls, scouting each room and the perimeter of the house, no intruders. Something caught his eye however and it was Haruhi, crying herself to sleep.

Ray returned his sight to normal and got back into bed, saying to himself "I better not wake up inside closed space..."

* * *

To be continued...


	10. VIV

"Most men fear the unknown, most men fear that which is stronger than them."

* * *

Chapter VIV : Painful Summer Part 2

* * *

Suzumiya Haruhi's House, 7 days later

* * *

Ray had been paying regular visits at Haruhi's request for a while now that it became habit, simply giving her a call to tell her he would pay a visit with her simply acknowledging it. Ray was getting concerned at Haruhi's current state of mind and two days ago Koizumi was convinced utterly that something big was going to happen regarding closed space as regions were popping up without celestials and then collapsing on their own after an hour or two. "I believe Haruhi is now at a complete loss of how to respond, she feels as if she should be over the incident but doesn't feel comfortable with how things are going." are the words Koizumi used that day, burned into Ray's memory.

* * *

3:22pm, Train Station

* * *

Ray and Haruhi met up with the rest of the SOS-dan and proceeded their usual routine of scouting out the city, according to Haruhi they would look around for a few days as the big vacation was finally revealed. They were going to spend the summer over at Koizumi's "Family's" Island Mansion again, most likely minus a staged murder-mystery game.

Ray and Haruhi were together this time, simply looking around the small park and following the stream while occasionally resting at the benches about every 10 minutes. Ray drank some water from his bottle, he was dressed in a black trenchcoat with black sweats and a black T-shirt. Haruhi was wearing a yellow shirt and blue shorts and occasionally asked Ray why he dressed so heavily to which he would always respond "The Summers here aren't nearly as hot as the Southwest US Coast, the heat there can get unbearable in the summer."

* * *

101012121210

* * *

Haruhi sometimes couldn't understand how Ray could easily get over an incident like what happened only to recall that he mentioned he used to live near a place with a high crime rate and was always mentally prepared for things like a break-in. Haruhi was still intrigued more however regarding how he could move so flawlessly with a Katana with only two years of practice. She's always seen those kind of moves used only in television or games and never thought about how fast it really happens, not even time to think and yet Ray reacted flawlessly in that situation. Haruhi never felt safe anymore unless Ray was around though at the same time she couldn't help but feel a bit of fear around him simply because of how strong he truly was and had an odd feeling he wasn't truly serious in that fight.

* * *

4:00pm, a Cafe, the same day.

* * *

10101021012012

* * *

Lots were drawn again and the same results occurred, Koizumi couldn't help but think Haruhi was subconsciously trying to say something, or rather scream it at the top of her lungs. Was it that she was afraid? Was it that she changed her focus from Kyon to Ray? Or was it something else, was it that she was no longer simply bored with the way the world is but now rather hates it? The latter possibility sent a chill through Koizumi's spine. The fake smiles, the yes-man act, allowing Haruhi to do things that he disagreed with to great extents in fear of her using her power to change everything he knew. Koizumi was paired with Mikuru and were going to look around the baseball park for pretty much as far as Haruhi's description goes, themselves. Koizumi was seething with anger that Haruhi was exposed to the dark side of the world though also thankful that it wasn't as dark as it could have been. Koizumi at first hated Haruhi though as he spent more time with the SOS-dan he became attracted to her boundless energy, something he lacked unless he was fighting a celestial.

* * *

1010120120

* * *

4:10pm, A Manga Shop.

* * *

Ray looked around the shop, Haruhi and he were browsing the stores for either anything of interest or for paranormal activity though Ray couldn't help but feel Haruhi was looking for something specific here. If there were no information blockade on the city he wouldn't need to wait for his manga collection to arrive from the US, more specifically his complete set of The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi. All the anime episodes, all the manga books and all the light novels. In his previous attempt at time travel at the hands of that Protoss he never really took too much interest until he met Haruhi during the war.

Then he noticed Haruhi staring intently at a manga, more specifically the most recent Naruto chapter. Ray chuckled on the inside at the irony that most of the psionic abilities in that series were actually possible for anyone above a Class 10 on the UED Psi-Scale which was pretty much used by even the Korpulu Terran Factions as much as Earth. Ray also continued to ponder at the nature of Haruhi's power, it was certainly not psionic power or Duran would have killed her when she drew that message at her old Junior High, the message "I am here.".

Ray walked up to her and said "So you're a fan of Naruto as well?"

Haruhi nodded and replied "Yeah, I spent what I had at the café though, you always show up so early." Ray sighed and replied "Usually Kyon picks up the tab but lately you're the one who shows up late.". Haruhi didn't reply and after a few seconds Ray said "If you really want it I'll get it for you." Haruhi shook her head and said "That wouldn't be fair, I showed up late after all." Ray sighed and grabbed the book from her hand and said "Too bad, consider it a gift.".

Ray let out an honest grin and Haruhi chuckled slightly as Ray paid for the manga book and they proceeded out the door.

* * *

4:30pm, Train Station

* * *

Everyone met up at the station, Ray intentionally let Haruhi walk ahead of him as he knew she couldn't afford the fare with all the spending she had been doing both at the café and in the shops so much that she couldn't even afford a manga book by the end of their "Patrol".

Haruhi seemed unsurprised when everyone said they didn't find anything abnormal but was still a little frustrated, Ray noticed the frustration right away and said "Maybe we're just not looking in the right places. If the world hasn't found the supernatural common then we're not likely to find any of it in places everyone goes to on a daily basis such as stores, restaurants and libraries. I'm sure we'll find something eventually."

Haruhi's expression calmed down and she nodded in agreement, saying "You're probably right, you slugged behind a bit though so you have to pay this time around." Ray nodded without any annoyance for once, he had intentionally let himself be last as Haruhi was taking too much time otherwise, as if she was still troubled by the incident.

* * *

Next Day, Island Mansion, 3:45pm

* * *

Arawaka and Mori were present as the SOS-dan got off the boat. They were to spend the summer here courtesy of Koizumi's cousin though in reality it was just another action by the Agency to keep Haruhi's spirits up. The only difference from last time being clear skies predicted for the entire week and that Sasaki and Ryoko had tagged along. Sasaki came at Kyon's request which Haruhi wasn't reluctant to accept and Haruhi herself being the one who invited Asakura Ryoko, much to Kyon's dismay. Of course Ray knew the real reason for Sasaki's presence and that was for her own safety.

Haruhi and the others gathered around and Haruhi decided to write down numbers on several notebook pages, the SOS-dan would draw to decide who shares rooms. The only problem which Mikuru pointed out was "There's no way to separate the boys from girls with this method though." Haruhi shrugged off the response and replied "Each room has at least two beds so don't worry.".

Ray felt a twitch forming in his eye though it seemed to be present only in his mind, Haruhi was acting unusual. (And to him that considers what her version of normal is.) Haruhi closed her eyes and shook up a jar she put the pages in and Ray tapped into his Eagle Vision to confirm his suspicion.

Haruhi drew first and got a four and Ray noticed that when Sasaki and Ryoko had reached for the other four the number swapped with another page with no reason, Ray could tell immediately this was Haruhi's subconscious' doing and noticed Koizumi was beginning to suspect that as Ray's number came up as four. Ray thought to himself "This is going too far, if Haruhi is using closed space subconsciously to keep me around then she could cause a problematic change at any moment. Though nothing is worse than my future there are still outcomes that I couldn't live with.".

* * *

1012012012 8:03 pm.

* * *

Ray laid on the furthest part of his bed from Haruhi's so as to keep as much distance as possible though Haruhi didn't seem to notice or care. Haruhi was facing the opposite direction, laying on her side looking at the moonlit night, seemingly unable to sleep.

After a few minutes she sighed and closed the blinds and got back into bed, closing her eyes to try and sleep.

* * *

A Nightmare, No Time Recordable, apparently a ruined city.

* * *

Haruhi walked through the rubble confused both at the terrain around her and that she was in an outfit she had never worn before, she looked at a broken piece of glass which reflected her appearance. She seemed older, at least in her 30s.

Haruhi continued to walk as everything seemed to blink, she was confused with both her memories and a seemingly different set as well. A flash happened, she was looking at a camera, the picture being taken by Koizumi, to her right was an older Ray, possibly in his 30s as well and Asahina Mikuru who seemed to be in her mid-20s. Ray chuckled and said "How did it turn out Itsuki?". Koizumi replied "A Perfect photo."

"Good, I'd hate to make too many flashes around here." were the words that came out of Haruhi's mouth. She was sure she said them of her own volition but couldn't shake the confusion of the situation. According to these memories she's just been initiated into an organization called the Assassins and she's walking in Nishinomiya, a post-nuclear strike Nishinomiya.

* * *

2020 AD, Nishinomiya, A Nightmare? Three Hours later.

* * *

Haruhi was on overwatch with Ray and Mikuru. Ray turned to look at her and said "Something the matter Haruhi? You look like shit."

Haruhi shook her head and replied "I'm fine, just a little off my game is all.". Ray replied "Well shake it off, we make the rendezvous in one hour and I don't want you to be caught off guard by an ASDC Death Squad.". Haruhi forced herself to let seemingly years of combat experience she has never had before sink into her mind and seems more aware of her surroundings, she can tell one thing now that she has this experience in her. She has had this nightmare before several times and no matter what she does, she can't change what happens in the end, all she knows is that in this dream her memories keep saying she has wanted to say something to Ray for nearly 12 years and hasn't been able to either because she was too focused on her missions or because something interrupted them.

* * *

One Hour later, 2020 AD, Nishinomiya, March 22nd

* * *

Haruhi stood to Ray's side as a convoy of trucks were approaching, several men and women across the area suggested, reinforced by her new memories that she was part of a rather large guerilla force who were unaware she and Ray were Assassins.

The Convoy's lead vehicle stopped, a loud sound was heard and soldiers got out of the convoy aiming in random directions. Ray shouted "Sniper! Everyone take cover!". This was it, Haruhi knew what was going to happen, just like all the other dreams, Ray was going to die. She decided there was one thing she hadn't done yet.

* * *

Ray pulled out a scoped rifle and looked in the direction of a glare of light from a building in the distance and took careful aim before firing a shot only for his eyes to widen.

Suddenly Haruhi dashed, grabbed Ray and tossed him to the side, she felt a sharp pain in her chest in addition to enough force to knock her on the ground, feeling a warm wet feeling from the same spot. She was shot.

Ray quickly reacted and dragged her behind cover as another shot took Koizumi's life. Haruhi was losing consciousness, she felt sick and nauseated as Ray took at look at where she was hit, he froze. Haruhi turned her head with difficulty to look at Ray, saying "Don't die. No matter what, don't...die."

Ray replied, shouting "Why damnit! You had a future ahead of you, the war was nearly over and you took a bullet for someone like me? What good have I done in this world? Tell me why!"

Haruhi struggled to get up slightly despite Ray trying to keep her lying flat as he kept shouting the word medic despite knowing there was nothing they could do. She brought her head to Ray's and said "Because I can't get you out of my head, I can't stop thinking...about you. I did this because I love you."

She lost movement and fell limp, She started to lose feeling everywhere, tears fell as she lost hearing, but she was still able to see Ray's reaction of sadness and anger.

* * *

Island Mansion, 8:32pm

* * *

Haruhi was woken from the nightmare, sweating heavily and panting heavily. She grabbed the area were she was shot in the dream and grabbed it when she noticed it was fine. She heard something behind her.

"Are you ok?" said Ray.

* * *

10101201012

* * *

No doubt about it, she had some kind of nightmare, a big one as she seemed to be grasping were her heart was and looking at Ray with a pale expression on her face. Ray said once more "Haruhi are you alright? You look like you were having a heart attack."

Haruhi replied "I'm...I'm fine, just a nightmare.". Ray sighed and said "Haruhi I know you've had trouble getting over what happened but don't worry about anything, I wont let anyone hurt you, just keep that in mind."

Haruhi nodded and said "Thank you, that isn't what's bothering me but thank you.". Ray relaxed and said "Then what is bothering you?" Haruhi shook her head and replied "Have you ever had a dream were you seem like someone else, memories that aren't yours and feelings you've never felt before. Then for something to happen in that dream that shatters your heart.".

Ray responded immediately, saying "Yes, several times. Though they are so vivid they seem like memories instead of dreams or nightmares." Ray pondered a moment after saying that, Haruhi's question troubled him significantly and furthermore he felt a sense of déjà vu as Haruhi laid back down and said "You're not like everyone else, are you?" Ray had a puzzled look on his face and replied "What do you mean by that?".

Haruhi said "I don't know. Every time Koizumi, Mikuru or even Kyon look me in the eye I feel like they're afraid of me. When you look me in the eye I don't feel like you're afraid of me, I feel like you're afraid something might happen to me." Ray didn't reply for a full minute, simply staring at Haruhi before finally saying "Maybe I am afraid something will happen, I feel calm, peaceful and happy. I've Never felt that way before, always thinking, no waiting for the next bad thing to happen, expecting it to happen, knowing it will happen as sure as the sun will rise. Being in the SOS-dan makes me feel like there will be a happy ending to each day instead of more pain or suffering. A lot has happened to me in the last few years Haruhi. So much that I can say that honestly, I'm afraid of the next bad thing. Rather than waiting for it to pass and be done with I'd rather an eternity pass before it happens."

Silence filled the room for a while before after nearly an hour Haruhi replied "Do you believe there's a god out there? Who actually cares?". Ray replied without hesitation "I do, normally someone who's suffered as much as me would have doubts but I don't. For all the bad things that have happened there have been some moments that make all of it seem meaningless by comparison. Good wins in the end, but it just takes time and patience. I'm sure most of the suffering is past. We should get some sleep so we have enough energy to make tomorrow a good day."

Haruhi wiped a tear from her eye, she had felt it there since she woke up. She replied "Yeah, we'll have a lot of fun tomorrow. Good night."

Ray also bid her good night and quickly returned to face the other side. But he didn't nod off as quickly as Haruhi did.

Ray looked at his hand again, knowing it's an illusion, that instead of skin there is metal. He thinks to himself as he begins to fall asleep "It won't be like last time, this time I'll keep it from happening. No matter what the cost.".

* * *

Afterword

From now on I will be using normal numbers instead of Roman Numerals for chapter numbers after this chapter (9, 10, 11 etc. instead of VIV, X, XI etc.)

Writing in Haruhi's POV was kind of difficult but interesting to try and get in her mind but don't expect it too much as I'm doing my best not to break character (Haruhi has never dealt with tragedy before and this is how I think she would react, with confusion and frustration.)

And to clarify Haruhi's confession, it was part of her alternate self's memories, not her primary memories.

And I won't be putting an afterword after practically every chapter anymore as both it is rather time consuming and I have nothing more to say.

* * *

To be continued...


	11. Chapter 10

"For countless years man has often pondered and explored the secrets of the stars, looked onward and even left the cradle of mankind to form a new age. But it was only recently that we unlocked the secrets of ourselves. The Xel'Naga were worshipped as gods by the Protoss for their psionic power, not their technological power. But the First Civilization wrote a secret into the human race in the event the Xel'Naga would be hostile. In times of strife we will evolve into something else. Something that can defy fate."

* * *

Chapter 10: Painful Summer Part Three

* * *

2020 AD, Nishinomiya, "Alpha Point"

* * *

Her words echoed in his head as he laid her to rest, closing her eyes and whispering "Rest in peace."

His eyes shifted to red as he felt some before unknown power flow through him. The sniper can't be human to take a 30-6 FMJ round to the head and not even flinch.

Everything changed as Ray lost all control of his actions, behaving like some kind of primal animal as he suddenly flickered out of sight with a massive red explosion in the sniper's nest across the field. Ray had only one thought in his mind. Kill this girl.

* * *

Ray was effectively unarmed saved for his hidden blades and his friend's Murasama, hardly modern armaments but his newfound psionic fury was pushing the sniper back who abandoned her rifle and activated what appeared to be the fabled Sword of Eden, thought both lost and inactive but somehow this thing had recharged it.

Ray activated his Nanite blade and clashed swords with the girl, Ray's eye shifted to purple and he was now tapped into his eagle vision, he then knew the person's name, not that it seemed to matter. Konou Suyou.

After evading several ranged bursts from the Sword of Eden Ray felt a searing heat in his hand as he accidentally sent a pulse of red energy from his hand, slicing through several skyscrapers in the distance as his hand appeared charred and burned. Without his nano-tech he would have had to amputate it but it began to heal as Ray continued to move at paces unmatchable by Suyou as Ray quickly disarmed her with a sword motion and slashed her some thirty times which seemed to have little effect other than bleeding her out. Suyou began to catch up as she flickered behind Ray and reacquired the Sword of Eden and impaled Ray from behind which only caused him to turn with his eyes staring into her own as he drew his Murasama blade and sliced clean through Suyou and dashed away to pull out the blade that impaled him, his nanomachines unable to keep up with the scope of his injury.

Things began to shift as Ray felt he was losing himself but he refused the urge to calm down as he charged at Suyou once more holding both his Murasama and the Sword of Eden which he decided to mentally refer to it as Excalibur as it met the criteria throughout history as the sword King Arthur pulled from the stone.

* * *

Ray lost track of time and even his own humanity at a point as the fight proceeded to his own unit. As Ray dashed around his allies who for only a moment caught a glimpse of him before he slammed Excalibur into the ground causing a surge of energy to destroy what was left of the city around him and presumably Suyou as well.

* * *

A rather large crater that used to be the ruined city of Nishinomiya, March 22nd, 2020 AD

* * *

Ray was at the epicenter, calming down as he sweated profusely and panted heavily before taking in the scenery. Excalibur in his hand not only intact but also glowing red, he had charged it with his own psionic energy subconsciously to destroy practically everything around him, there were no buildings, there was no rubble. The destruction Ray caused surpassed any nuclear weapon he has ever seen before, even that of his native time in the UED.

He released the grips of Excalibur and the Murasama and cried uncontrollably at what seemed to be his fate before he heard a kind of screeching sound behind him.

On instinct he turned and tried to shove his hidden blades into what appeared to be Asahina Mikuru who barely evaded his reaction and said "Calm down! It's me!" Ray stared for a moment before saying "Your TPDD, give it to me now." Mikuru sighed and replied "This is the future Ray, my past. I-".

Ray did not let her finish and quickly fired his hidden pistol, latched onto his gauntlets at Mikuru's shoulder causing some kind of remote to fall from Mikuru's sleeve and dashed to grab it as Mikuru regained her footing and, before she could retrieve it, Ray phased out as he pressed a button on the Device, both going back in time and stranding Mikuru there for who knows how long before her superiors send a retrieval unit.

* * *

Island Mansion, 7:18 AM

* * *

Ray woke up, he was used to dreaming these memories, used to the sight of Haruhi taking a bullet for him. For a moment he just laid there, taking in the ceiling as he turned onto his back and snapped slowly back into the reality that he was in the past and in a position to change the future.

After a few minutes Ray got out of bed to notice Haruhi already at the door, a slightly cheerful expression on her face told Ray something was about to happen and for once he was looking forward to it.

* * *

10210102101201212012\. 8:30 AM

* * *

The SOS-dan was relaxing on the beach. Nagato was reading a book, Haruhi and Mikuru were swimming and Ray seemed to be laying on his back against the sand watching the cloudless sky. Sasaki turned her head towards Kyon who was also just taking in the scenery and said "You have a lot of fun around the SOS-dan don't you?" Kyon nodded and said "Yeah, though now I'm a little concerned at how long it will last. Things aren't exactly the same as they were last year."

Sasaki replied "Then just enjoy the moment while we still can. It's not like in only a few seconds world war three will break out." Kyon simply nodded and didn't reply as he got up and went to grab a soda from a cooler that was laying next to them.

* * *

0101012012012012012

* * *

Ray turned his attention to Ryoko who had walked up to him and sat down. Ray said "What do you want?". Ryoko shook her head slightly and replied "I can have fun too you know. A vacation from all the usual happenings is fine and I can still observe Haruhi without any incident at the same time.".

Ray grinned slightly and said "It's not work if you're having fun at the same time." just before sitting up, noticing Haruhi and Mikuru setting up a net and assumed she intended to play volley ball. It was one of the few games Ray had never played before.

* * *

11:30AM, Island Jungle

* * *

The SOS-dan plus Ryoko and Sasaki were in the island's jungle exploring and as per Haruhi's instructions, find anything of interest.

Ray decided to, for once, ignore Haruhi's instructions and proceeded to climb a tree as Haruhi asked "What are you doing?" Ray reached a branch and just laid back on it in a sitting position and shouted "Taking in the view, this jungle isn't really that thick." Haruhi let a small scowl make itself known and proceeded to try to climb the tree as well, nearly reaching the top before grabbing a weak branch and if not for Ray quickly grabbing her hand, she would have fallen a 20 foot drop.

Pulling her up she found another branch and decided to take in the view as well, the tree was tall enough to overlook the entire island save for the other side of the mansion which was even more tall. Ray said "Does this count as something interesting?" Haruhi nodded and replied "How are we going to get down?".

Ray laughed a bit and said "You should have thought of that before following me up here." Haruhi stared with an annoyed look before Ray stood and jumped down and landed with a roll. Haruhi stared for a second as Ray shouted "Just climb down, if you fall I'll catch you." Haruhi sighed and managed to climb down safely after a few minutes.

* * *

1:15 PM, Island Mansion

* * *

Ray sipped some tea as the SOS-dan was gathered around a board game Ray had brought along when his cell phone rang. He grabbed it and saw a familiar number, though not one he wanted to see. Getting up he said "I have to take this call, I'll be right back.". The SOS-dan seemed unconcerned save for Haruhi who gave him a suspicious look.

* * *

In the hallway Ray got on the phone and said immediately "I'm retired, how dare you call this number William. Not only could you make me have to throw this phone out but you're interrupting my peace and quiet."

On the other end a man known now as William Miles replied "It's important, we've lost several more cells in Japan. Abstergo has been making some movements there and I wanted to let you know." Ray was furious and replied "How the hell do you even know where I am? Have you been keeping tabs on me in secret?"

William replied "I had to keep an eye on you because of the stunt you pulled last year. You took a high-value artifact from Abstergo on an arbitrary mission and got your name on their list." Ray replied "You know as well as I that this artifact is too powerful and too important to let the Templars hold onto it. And I've told you several times before you should be focusing on tracking down and taking care of Juno. She is the more important issue here, more than Abstergo or any other precursor artifact."

Will replied "I understand that and I have been focusing on finding that bitch but the trail disappeared suddenly, it's as if she vanished."  
Ray grinned, sighed and then said "Other than telling me to watch my back which I do constantly, was there any other point to this call?" William then replied "Tell me. How long do you plan on lying to that girl, sooner or later you will have to use your blade and she will notice."

Ray lost control of his temper and shouted into the phone "You stay out of this! That is none of your business and the sooner you accept my departure the sooner you can focus on what's really important!". Ray quickly looked around and noticed no differences around him and tapped into eagle vision to scan the area and saw Haruhi behind a corner, within earshot of the entire conversation." Ray said softly "Shit..."

William said "What's going on?" Ray sighed and replied "Don't call me again." and with that he hung up and tuned his eyes to normal and said "I know you're there Haruhi."

* * *

Haruhi walked into view and said "What was that about?". Ray replied "How much did you hear?"

Haruhi then said "Everything you said, couldn't hear the other person though but I would very much like to know what this was about?" Ray sighed and said "I would rather not tell you, you've been exposed to the darkness of the world but only a part of it. That incident before summer was nothing compared to the things that happen in the shadows. It's like I said, Every day is pain and suffering, every day something bad happens. It might not happen to me or you but it will happen to someone. Every day someone dies of old age or is killed by another person. You hear it on the news all the time. There is no sugar coating the way the world is."

Haruhi sighed and said "I know the world isn't nice but you mentioned an artifact, I-"

Ray interrupted Haruhi and said "Don't bring that up again, I understand you're intentionally seeking out the unknown but right now you're not ready to handle the truth. The things that happen in the dark, the things that go bump in the night. You are not ready for that. You are nowhere near mature enough to handle the world I know, you should just accept the bliss of ignorance until the moment that bliss is taken away forever."

Haruhi shouted in response, and with a decent amount of anger "I'm sick of living in ignorance! I want an interesting life not a normal life! It's unbearable. Nothing happens, nothing seems to matter, even with all the things the SOS-dan has done it's still not enough, I know there are secrets out there and I want to know them, I want to have fun! Yet every time I think I'm about to have fun someone shoots it down and throws me back into that rut that I'm usually stuck in. Every day it's the same. Wake up, eat breakfast, go to school, hang out with friends, eat lunch, go home, eat dinner and go to sleep and repeat! I'm sick of it!"

Ray noticed Haruhi's eyes were glowing golden slightly but fear wasn't what was in his head right now, it was anger. He paused for a second, clenching his fist and then said "A normal life is all I would ever want, my life has either been filled with pain, anger or sadness. If you lived through everything I have, if we swapped positions for even just a moment you would feel the same way. You wouldn't want to have a strange or abnormal life. To me having what you consider a boring life would be paradise!". Silence filled the hallway for a few moments before Haruhi said "I'm not asking for everything, just, what's that saying? Throw me a bone here? That's all I want, just something interesting that you would be willing to share, something to prove to me the world isn't dull."

Ray sighed and said "Fine, something small." with those words he held up his right arm and deactivated the holographic emitter, revealing one of the Gauntlets of Eden to Haruhi's surprise. Haruhi said "What is that? It looks like a gauntlet of some kind."

Ray replied "This is the artifact I was talking about, a precursor artifact known as the Gauntlet of Eden, there are two, I have both. It's cybernetically grafted on my right arm. The illusion it can make mimics the appearance and touch of human skin but otherwise the graft is permanent, my right and left arms and hands lack skin, instead the gauntlets are there, they can fool metal detectors and even thermals by matching the temperature of the body. With these I am a living weapon. So many people believe Humanity has been alone. But 75,000 years ago there were those who came before, they looked like us but spoke a different language, were different on the genetic scale. Normal Humans have a double-helix DNA base, the First Civilization had a triple-helix DNA base which made them more physically durable and more perceptive. There are still people who are partially descended from them, there are no longer any survivors of the precursors but they did have children with humans. In fact they were responsible for our evolution. We evolved naturally but they took it further, Neanderthals were the initial humans and the precursors took several and altered them the same way we made dogs, through selective breeding. Descendants of the precursors have both double helix strands of DNA and triple helix strands of DNA."

Haruhi listened to every word and after Ray was finished with his speech Haruhi pondered a bit before replying "Are you descended from them?". Ray nodded and said "Yes, it's why I'm able to use the gauntlets. Because of my heritage. Any other questions?"

Haruhi nodded and said "Just one more, you mentioned Abstergo, that multi-national company that pretty much does everything. You mentioned another word though that gets me thinking. The word Templar." Ray nodded and said "The Knight's Templar were born long before it says in history, why does it get you thinking?"

Haruhi replied "The nightmare I had, I've had it many times over and in it I'm part of this group called the Assassins, and their enemies are called Templars and were the real people in charge of Abstergo, in my dream at least. It was so vivid and.. I'd rather not talk about it further but it gets me wondering." Ray stared at her for a moment before saying "Nothing is true." Haruhi's eyes widened and replied "Everything is permitted.".

Ray then says "I don't think you're having dreams, I think you're having visions of a potential future." Haruhi then says "It started after my dad bought a trinket for me when he was on a business trip to a Native American reservation in the Eastern US. It's a partially clear sphere that glows when I'm near it. In fact I brought it with me." Ray then replied "Does it look like this?" and with those words he pulled out an apple of eden to which Haruhi replied "Yes, or rather mostly, its larger and looks more like glass than metal." Ray then says "It's a Nexus Sphere, a variant of what the Assassins call Apples of Eden. Nexus Spheres calculate possible outcomes, possible futures and can calculate so well and accurate they can predict the future up to 150,000 years ahead with unnerving accuracy."

Haruhi's face went from surprise to sadness and said "Then...if that's true. In the year 2020, one of us will die." Ray replied immediately "That won't happen! I know what you're talking about Haruhi and it won't happen, I can't say everything but I can tell you that I know what your vision was. I've had similar visions, all ending with only you dying. I wont let that happen."

Haruhi looked to the side and said "If you know the vision, then you know what I told you in that vision." Ray pauses for a second before replying "I do know what you said. What I'm interested in knowing is what your intentions are at this moment in the present." Haruhi shakes her head slightly and says "I don't know. I feel confused around you but I wouldn't call it love exactly. I just don't know. Ever since those people broke in I haven't felt safe unless I'm around you. If you've seen those visions too then it explains why I feel you're afraid for me when you look at me. Can I just know something, what are your intentions, how do you feel?"

Ray doesn't break eye contact but is still silent for a moment before saying "I don't know how to respond to that Haruhi. Last night you were right about one thing, I'm not like most people. Most people would jump at any opportunity to be with you. People still talk about the rumors at school, that you went out with anyone who asked. But never longer than a week and at shortest five minutes and from what Kyon has told me you seem to view love as a mental illness, which I cannot agree with, emotions are what make us human, they define who we are and play a major role in our decisions. Countless times people have been motivated by love or other emotions to do great things like exploration, diplomacy or discoveries of science. Sure it has also caused wars and suffering in history as well but it depends on the person, not the emotion itself, for what happens. I am interested in you, but at the same time I don't want to get into a relationship only for it to be doomed to end."

Haruhi didn't respond for quite a while but eventually she said "I...I need time to think. I'm not like I was back then, I only went out with everyone because I was trying to find someone interesting, someone who wasn't the normal person who only cares about how I look or is so focused on intimacy that it's all they think about. I always had rules and anyone who tried to break them met my foot. You seem different in more ways than one but I just don't know what to think anymore. In my dreams, or visions I develop feelings for you after two years of meeting you. You made the same promises then that you're making now. You promised not to let me die, not to let anyone harm me and you never broke them, I made the choice to die instead of you because I wanted to make the same promise to you but never could."

Silence filled the hall again before Ray replied "I understand, it's confusing to me as well. But I know how I feel and nothing will change that. I want to just not care and live a good life but I know about things that will happen. A horrible future I have the power to prevent. It's not related to your visions but...it's a grim future indeed." Haruhi replied "You make it sound like the end of days." Ray flatly replied "It is, the end of everything, even the stars will die, there will be nothing left, no hope, no sorrow, no joy, no anything. Only darkness."

Haruhi closed her eyes for a moment before saying "We should head back to everyone else, we're supposed to have dinner soon, its..." Haruhi opened up her phone to look at the clock on it and then said "It's 3:12 pm now, we've been here for nearly two hours." Ray nodded and they walked towards the main room.

* * *

The Next Day, 8:30 AM

* * *

The alarm clock buzzed as Ray pushed the button to silence it and got up, noticing Haruhi looking out the window on the other side of the room, staring at the ocean.

Ray then said "Did you get any sleep?" Haruhi shook her head slightly and said "I got some sleep, I had that nightmare again though, I should keep that sphere further away I guess." Ray paused for a moment before saying "Come on, I'm sure breakfast is ready by now."

Haruhi nodded and walked towards the door, taking a glance at Ray as she grabbed the doorknob and said "About yesterday, do you think if we tried being together would things get more interesting?" Ray closed his eyes for a moment and said "There is no trying. I have no intention at being in a relationship that wont be lasting. For me if I intend to be in a relationship I intend to be in it for the rest of my life." Haruhi didn't reply and opened the door to proceed into the hall as Ray followed in silence.

* * *

6:15 PM

* * *

The day went normal on the outside as the SOS-dan enjoyed time at the beach, explored the jungle again and took a walk around the Cliffside. Ray and Haruhi though had not said a word to each other the entire time and the others began to notice.

Haruhi had gotten up and went to her room early though Ray remained in the main room with the others. Kyon began to speak once Haruhi was out of earshot, saying "What's going on between you and Haruhi? You haven't said anything to each other the entire day." Koizumi also spoke, saying "I've noticed that as well and would be very interested in an answer."

Ray sighed and said "I have no intention to answer that question." Ryoko then said "Looks like I was right, you are causing interesting reactions for me to observe."  
Koizumi sighed and said "Whatever is going on between the two of you I suggest you don't let it get out of hand. The last thing we need is for Haruhi to have another fit of closed space. That last incident where those two broke in caused such a large disturbance that some of our organization actually died fighting Celestials. Normally we have no problem dealing with them but they were much faster and more focused on attacking us than the surrounding environment. Haruhi hasn't created any new regions of closed space as of yet though I continue to fear it is because they are building up energy for some kind of large action."

Ray got up and said "I'm going to bed, I'm not going to talk about this anytime soon or perhaps at all."

A scream caught everyone's attention, and more specifically the fact it came from the direction of Haruhi's room.

Ray turned around immediately and activated his gauntlets of eden openly and dashed towards the room, blades drawn.

* * *

6:18 PM

* * *

Ray tried to open the door but it was locked, he then kicked it open with brute force and saw a black robed individual jump out the window with Haruhi over his shoulder unconscious. Ray tapped into eagle vision and began a pursuit, Nagato and Ryoko being the only ones able to keep up with Ray's speed.

Ray took a leap of faith from the window into a well and grasped onto what seemed to be a hookblade's mark with his own hookblade and quickly climbed out and followed a golden trail only he could see, Ryoko and Nagato close behind whilst his 360 degree vision noticed Kyon and Koizumi looking out the window.

Ray proceeded to the docks as he saw several other individuals in black robes dash at him while the kidnapper set Haruhi in a black speedboat. Ray quickly dashed to the side to avoid what he noticed was a hidden blade, he continued his run ignoring the others and directly proceeded towards the boat which began to speed off.

Ray dashed into the other boat and quickly noticed an explosive charge which he disabled with a pulsed Eden Blade and stabbed a Nanite blade in the dash of the boat to immediately get it moving, leaving Ryoko and Nagato behind to deal with the other hooded figures.

* * *

6:33 PM, Open Sea

* * *

Ray continued to pursue the kidnapper, following him and trying to close the distance as he noticed another boat approaching. Tapping into Eagle Vision again he saw it crewed with people glowing red and he noticed thanks to his proficiency the sight that they were affiliated with the Assassins. Why were they kidnapping Haruhi?

Ray however did not hold back as the boat got closer and he extended his right hand at the boat and destroyed it with a blast from his gauntlet of eden, killing the assassins in it instantly. Ray managed to get adjacent to the Kidnapper's boat which caused him to get desperate and draw an automatic pistol just as Haruhi woke up to notice her hands were tied behind her back as the Kidnapping Assassin fired as Ray dashed onto the boat with inhuman speed, the bullets did nothing except reveal that Ray's Nanite Shield was active.

The Assassin kept the boat in gear and quickly got up and moved at rapid pace with dual action hidden blades to try and kill Ray only for Ray to flawlessly execute a counter kill by deflecting two hits from the Assassin then turning around with one of his hidden blades striking the Assassin in his left temple, killing him instantly as Ray then formed and stabbed another Nanite blade into the boat, causing it to slow and eventually stop.

Ray walked over to Haruhi who was petrified in fear at the sight of the blood on Ray's hands as he cut her bonds with one of his hidden blades just as two more boats were approaching. Ray quickly scanned them with Eagle vision and they were also Assassin boats, red hue indicating they were also hostile. Ray told Haruhi to stay down as he took a life vest from the back of the boat and gave it to her to put on.

Ray got back to the Boat's seat as Haruhi snapped to her senses and placed the life jacket on as Ray Nanite-hacked the boat to move back towards the Island. Ray used his nanites to form his white plated Desert Eagle which Haruhi noticed had the symbol of the Assassins engraved on the right side.

Ray drew and aimed his DE at the other boats as he drove at full speed back at the island, firing several shots at the other boats who started zig zagging instead of shooting back which had Ray realize they wanted Haruhi alive. Ray continued to fire without needing to reload as he approached the beach and shouted "Hang on!"

* * *

The Boat slammed into the beach and continued on for about 18 feet before stopping on the land. Ray wasted no time and told Haruhi to run towards the Island Mansion. Ray turned his head to notice Ryoko and Nagato had disposed of the other two assassins just as the other boats approached. Ray got off the boat and formed a rather large rifle from his Nanites, a C-10 Canister Rifle. Despite the rifle being longer than Ray's body he held it without any difficulty and fired a shot at one of the boats which caused it to explode. The sound deafened Haruhi despite her being at the Mansions door by then.

Ray fired another shot at the second boat, destroying it as well and noticed some of the Assassins had survived and were swimming in his direction while underwater, if Ray lacked eagle vision he would have missed it. Ray disassembled the rifle and formed a psionic beacon which summoned his HF Murasama Blade with its gundraw scabbard and wrapped it around his hip as several assassins got ashore, lacking any firearms.

Ray quickly dashed at one of the four assassin survivors and cut him in half with the gundraw and quickly slashed behind him without turning, taking the life of a second Assassin. The others drew what appeared to be High Frequency modified Katanas. Ray parried several strikes before driving his hidden blade into the forehead of one assassin and turned to the last to parry another strike just as he removed his blade from the previous assassin. Ray continued to sidestep and parry until he saw an opening with one of the Assassins and impaled him in the heart with his Murasama.

The Assassin did not die immediately and said with difficulty "You...betrayed...everything...we stand for...You even betrayed...the entire human race..."

With those final words the light left his eyes and Ray withdrew his blade from the man and slashed the air, sending the blood on the blade into the sand of the beach before sheathing it. He proceeded to close the eyes of the assassins present and proceeded to walk towards the mansion before stopping halfway, looking towards the beach and said to himself "Rest in peace my brothers."

It felt like killing his own family, even though he was both an only child and his family had not even been born yet, it felt the same. It was the only time Ray regretting taking another man's life despite knowing it had to be done.

* * *

7:01 PM, Island Mansion

* * *

The other members of the SOS-dan along with Sasaki and Ryoko were in the main room discussing what had just happened though Ray was not present with them nor was Haruhi.

Haruhi was moving part of her hair around with her hand slightly while looking at the moon from her bed in a sitting position. This incident was nothing like the break in, at least nobody died. But this time Ray had killed them to save her and he did so without hesitation. Ray walked in as the door was open and knocked on it a few times to get Haruhi's attention.

Haruhi turned to face Ray and said "Come in..." Ray sat down on the bed next to her and said "How are you holding up?" Haruhi let a tear fall from her left eye as she said "I'm not injured...You were right, the world is a dark place." Ray nodded and said "This incident was uncalled for, these men were definitely assassins and for some reason they tried to kidnap you. I get the feeling they were acting on their own though and not with the rest of the brotherhood's consent."

Haruhi replied "What makes you think that?" Ray then said "I called the current Grand Mentor, William Miles. He was the one I was talking to yesterday, I told him about the incident and he said he had specifically told the assassins to avoid any contact with me. I told him their names, my sixth sense, called eagle vision which I inherited from my ancestors allows me to learn a person's name and affiliation. I used to be in the Assassins and Miles had a team keep an eye on me when I retired since I took these gauntlets from the Templars. He said it was for my own safety and when I told him the names he said it was the observation team and that they for some reason went rogue."

Haruhi replied "I see...will anything like this happen again?" Ray sighed and said "Most likely yes, the two that broke into your house that other day were affiliated with Abstergo Industries, ay-kay-ay the Templars. And there are other neutral parties unaffiliated with either the Assassins or the Templars who have an interest in you."

Haruhi shook her head and said "Why am I so important? Are they using me to get to you?" Ray sighed and said "No, if that were the case then they would just directly come after me instead of you. And furthermore only the observation team and William Miles know where I was and what I am doing, the Templars were after you specifically, I was in the right place at the right time."

Haruhi turned her head to look at Ray for a moment before saying "The way you moved wasn't natural. Please just tell me everything, why am I so important to these people that they tried to kidnap me. Why are you even here, why did you get involved with all of this. I keep feeling like you're hiding something from me. A secret about myself it seems, what is it? Tell me.."

Ray closed his eyes for a second then opened them, saying "I can't tell you everything just yet, but I can say that even the precursors had double-helix DNA strands, they had a 80% triple helix DNA composition but 20% was double-helix whereas normal humans have 100% double-helix, people like me are 30% Triple and 70% double. Haruhi, I did a lot of looking into you before getting involved. Including your medical records and a lot of things have been hidden from you by several neutral parties. Your DNA composition is 100% Triple Helix. There is not a single strand of DNA in your body that is double-helix. You are something completely different and furthermore your DNA was altered somehow." Haruhi's eyes widened and she replied "Altered? How? When?" Ray replied "Four years ago during the Tanabata festival. You drew a short sentence in the written language that the precursors used. It meant I am here. The medical exam you had after that showed your DNA was 100% triple-helix. Every time before that your DNA was 100% Double-Helix. You went from being a normal human being to being something neither First nor Second Civilization."

Haruhi then said "Second Civilization? Oh, us." Ray nodded and said "I will say this, one of the neutral parties involved are in fact Koizumi's entire family. This mansion, Arawaka, Mori and several others are part of what they call The Agency. Their intentions towards you are favorable right now so we don't have to worry. Their concern is your safety. Haruhi, even I don't know the full nature of your DNA shift but I can say with honesty that it will make itself known sooner or later. I will keep you safe no matter what. It's not just the Gauntlets of Eden or my experience with the Assassins. I'm what you could call an Esper though the more accurate term is Psionic. Though because of my eagle vision the term Esper applies as Espers are those who have ESP or Extrasensory Perception. Psionics are, well the best way I can put it are those who can do things like in the Naruto series, or what many people for years have superstitiously called Magic or witchcraft. There are two kinds of Psionics in the human race. There are psionics like me who can manipulate both matter and energy and those who manipulate only a specific type of matter or energy to an absolute extent. The latter are commonly called Conduits and I've met a few."

Haruhi was silent for a moment before saying "What about you? Are there any more secrets you have or have you told me everything?"  
Ray paused for a moment before saying "Haruhi I want to tell you everything about me, about where I am really from, about what I can do. I really do, but I can't just yet. I will someday, someday soon, but not today or tomorrow or even next week. You have to be patient. I promise you I'll tell you everything one day. About myself, about you." Haruhi nodded and replied "Could you sleep next to me tonight, just next to me." Ray sighed and said "Haruhi, you're emotionally vulnerable right now and I can't tell if you're honestly trying to get close to me or are just looking for someone, anyone to raise the illusion that everything is going to be ok."

Tears began to roll down Haruhi's cheek as she said "I'm not asking you to go out with me or to get close, I just don't want to feel alone." Ray placed his right hand on Haruhi's cheek and wiped the tear away whilst saying "Don't ever think you're alone. You have me and the SOS-dan and several other friends. Tsuruya-san, Asakura-san and even Sasaki-san. It may seem that they're afraid of you and they probably are but they still do care about what happens to you. And I can tell Koizumi does most of all, he's the first one to get concerned whenever you're emotionally upset. I'll be next to you if you want me to, if you need anything just tap my shoulder." Haruhi grabbed and held onto Ray in an embrace, head buried just under his head as she slowly stopped crying.

* * *

After a few minutes though what seemed like hours Haruhi managed to fall asleep, her back against Ray's, her head facing the window whilst Ray was on his side facing the opposite direction, towards the door. Ray was still awake and tapped into eagle vision to scan the perimeter, making sure there were no threats and it was clear. No boats approaching, no Assassins creeping on the other side of the door or near the windows. The rest of the SOS-dan had gone to sleep. Asakura and Sasaki were in their room finishing a card game and were seemingly heading to bed. Ray turned his attention towards Haruhi, his 360 degree vision (Due to eagle vision) making it so he did not need to turn his head. With focus he removed the blue shimmer and background and merely saw 360 degrees with an 80 degree visual arc and focused on Haruhi who seemed fast asleep and didn't seem to be having a nightmare at the moment though most likely because Ray had found and moved her apple of eden in the closet rather than in her suitcase. Ray tapped out of eagle vision and was thus seeing only where his head and eyes were facing.

He thought in his mind "Haruhi seems to want to get close but also seems to be hesitant for the same reason I am. She doesn't want to lose something that she would want to hold onto for the rest of her life. I'll let time decide how that plays out. This vacation was supposed to be uneventful but it seems that isn't going to happen. Sooner or later I'll have to tell her everything about herself, that she is a Shinjin, that she can alter reality. If I don't then Amon will have his future, there won't be anything left. I'd rather Haruhi live a life without the suffering or responsibilities that will happen. But that won't come about until Amon either is made unable to revive or revived only to be killed once more, this time permanently."

With those thoughts in mind Ray managed to fall asleep quicker than he thought he could, though he stressed himself to remain aware of his surroundings incase someone else tried to make a move, like Abstergo or the angels.

* * *

To be continued...


	12. Chapter 11

"There is nothing left to say."

* * *

Chapter 11: Painful Summer Part Four

* * *

Island Mansion, the next day, 6:00 am

* * *

The alarm clock buzzed Ray awake as he looked at the table between the two beds, the other empty and he could hear a yawn behind him. Ray got up and noticed behind him Haruhi sat on the bed, staring out as the night became day.

Ray then said "Do you always stare out the window at such an early time?" Haruhi turned to face Ray and nodded her head before saying "Most of the time but not all the time." Silence made itself known to the room for a while as the day played out nominally.

* * *

They were only there for one month out of the summer and it would be some time before the SOS-dan gathered again for the last leg of summer like before. Time passed on as there were neither any more incidents nor issues. Haruhi and Ray acted as if nothing eventful occurred the trip and neither brought up the new fact that Ray had told Haruhi about the agency's existence though not of its nature.

* * *

The Following Month, Suzumiya's home. 1:35 pm

* * *

The rest of the SOS-dan were doing their own things now save for Ryoko and Sasaki who were now both residents of the same building Nagato resided in, rents paid by the organization now rather than the IDTE, Kyon was off visiting relatives in Tokyo, Koizumi was most likely keeping an eye out for closed space or planning for the final leg of summer as closed space does not appreciate summer as much as humanity.

Ray sipped tea as a movie played on the television, Haruhi on his right watching it with a rather bored expression. Visiting her had become routine and neither acted differently around eachother than they had prior to Ray's revelation of several things to her.

Ray had learned that Haruhi's parents were indeed aware of her abilities and aided the Organization with neutrality in exchange that they support Haruhi however they can, be it finances or the more common staged events and vacations. Haruhi was bored of the movie as it was only halfway over and turned her head to face Ray and said "I'd rather just walk about the park or something than sit here on this couch all day watching TV" Ray nodded his head in agreement and said "The usual place we keep looking around for mysteries and the like?" Haruhi sighed and replied "Sure." with a lack of interest which Ray quickly became aware of and said "Or would you rather just head out for something to eat, my treat."

Haruhi nodded her head but still had the expression that she was bored as hell and the day passed on by with a meal at the usual café the SOS-dan meet at.

As the night came Ray told Haruhi "I'll see you later." before leaving her house and walking down a hill towards his current residence.

* * *

8:18pm

* * *

Ray arrived and felt something odd, as if something was off about everything as he opened his door and made his way straight to bed.

* * *

?, ?.

* * *

Ray woke to the sight of a bluish-grey sky and felt nothing but cold cement on his back instead of his bed. He immediately bolted up to his feet and quickly took in his surroundings of the city. He was trapped in closed space and it seemed he was the only one there.

Ray wandered about with Eagle Vision active, he could see the borders of closed space visually as if they were Nanite shields and more importantly what caught his attention was a golden hued person down the street at North High, Ray immediately knew who it was and it was Suzumiya Haruhi who seemed confused to her surroundings.

* * *

Closed Space, SOS-dan clubroom, 110120101201021210122

* * *

Haruhi had put on tea as Ray had a serious expression and didn't break eye contact whenever Haruhi looked in his direction and frankly, it was getting on her nerves.

Haruhi decided to speak, saying "What is it, the way you look at me is like I'm the reason we're stuck here. This might just be a dream, I've had one exactly like this before but what bothers me more is that cold stare you're giving me." Ray sighed and said "This is no dream, this is an enclosed region of space that we might be trapped in for eternity unless there is a change of mood." Haruhi gave Ray a puzzled look before saying "Am I responsible for this? Is that what you're saying? Out with it then because if we're going to be the only two stuck in here I want to know why!"

With that some kind of switch flipped in Ray's head as he said "You want to know why we're here? Because for some reason you want us to be here! This is your doing, we're trapped in here until you decide that the world is worth living in. You have capabilities Haruhi, but I can't tell you all of them. I would rather not be trapped in here and sooner or later if we get out some shadow organization or Abstergo themselves will try to take you for their own ends. Ever since the island you've been distant, depressed and sometimes angry."

Haruhi replied, shouting "What capabilities do I have? Why would I want to be stuck in here, such a small part of the world were nothing seems to be happening? And even if I was responsible for this then why the hell should I bother with the way things were? What would make it worth it? I have more questions than answers and I'm getting sick of it!"

Ray sighed and replied "Fine, I'll tell you several things. First of all, I know more about you than I've let on. It wasn't the rumors or Kyon's babbling mouth that gave me the information but rather the fact that these neutral parties set up a Light Novel series, Manga series and Anime series as a cover to deter anyone from investigating. It revolves around your high school life but instead of focusing on your point of view it focuses on Kyon's and holds all the answers you want, that is what is coming over from the US, my entire collection of books and a DVD that I paid no serious attention to until I learned of the truth. The last time you were stuck in this place was because you wanted a relationship with Kyon-"

Haruhi was both surprised and angry as she interrupted Ray, saying "First of all, if I had any feelings for him I don't anymore, second of all I find it extremely hard to believe you. If what you're saying is true then the only damn reason we're here then is because I'm waiting for you to do something interesting!"

Ray rubbed his forehead in frustration as he replied "This will only end badly and I suppose I should tell you everything to prevent that grim future I know about. Perhaps I will and then I'll end up in a future that whilst it won't be as bad it will still be unbearable! For once in your entire damn life think about someone else's wants and needs rather than always selfishly choosing only that which appeases you."

Haruhi was silent for a moment before replying "Does it even matter anymore? Has it ever really mattered? If you're so worried about a world you can't stand to live in and if I really am the cause of all this and, if what you're saying applies, if I have the ability to change it all, just show me a world you would want to live in, find a compromise!" Ray shouted in response "No! If the world is to change it must change with direct action and not simply a write-over. I've made my decision, I'll tell you everything if you promise not to act on this information so quickly."

Haruhi nodded and said "Alright, I'm listening."

* * *

Ray took out an Apple of Eden from his pocket, he seemed to always carry it on his person as it suddenly sent a surge of information into Haruhi's mind.

Her eyes widened as she became aware of not only the secrets surrounding herself but all the things that had, or rather to her experience, will occur regarding an alien bent on the destruction of all existence. But that wasn't the only thing that the apple did, it placed some kind of mental barrier on Haruhi which prevented her from activating or controlling closed space consciously or subconsciously and because of the information the apple gave her, she knew it would only last five minutes.

Ray placed it back in his pocket as he said "There, are you satisfied? How will you react?" Haruhi shook her head to the side slightly and said "In five minutes everything will change. I promise it will be for the better." Ray sighed and said "I was afraid you would say that. I'm glad we had this chat but."

With those words Ray's eyes flashed red for a second and he grabbed Haruhi's hand as he said "Forget...".

* * *

101201021012012012

* * *

When Haruhi came to, she had forgotten the entire conversation. The two were still trapped in closed space though to Haruhi's POV she was just waking up to it.

As Haruhi asked simple questions such as "Where are we?", "What happened?" and "Why is this happening?" Ray merely shook his head and lied with the words "I don't know."

Ray wanted only to remain in the clubroom and sip tea though Haruhi continued to explore around the school trying to figure out what was happening.

A red light with the shape of a human formed near Ray who immediately said "Ah, Koizumi. How's the free side of the world?" Koizumi's avatar replied "To our view we are almost non-existent, the world doesn't exist and we believe that what is happening now has happened before regarding Kyon and when I asked how he saved everything he simply replied 'I thought about the tale of Snow White.'."

Ray shrugged and replied "I've read and watched your cover-ups, You're basically saying Haruhi has lost interest in Kyon and is now focused on me. She's like a lost puppy, clinging to whoever brightens up her day the most, be it exploring the city or someone who can fire bursts of energy from his hands. Tell me something, something not in those cover ups. Haruhi mentioned noticing the fear in your eyes when eye contact is made. Do her parents also have the same emotion when they look at their daughter?" Koizumi replied "Yes they do, If Haruhi is perceptive enough to notice that then it would explain why lately she has been having bouts of closed space. Personally I would rather she not take an interest in you though it's not like anyone can simply tell her what to do and expect to be able to make it happen."

Ray replied "She is nowhere near ready to learn about the truth regarding her powers. I've told her several things including the fact that her DNA was altered at Tanabata four years prior to now." Koizumi replied "That is the result of the elder Asahina Mikuru's faction's meddling. You're from the future, have you ever heard of a type of bullet known as DN-Ammunition?"

Ray replied "Yes, in my time the technology was banned and time travel technology was destroyed after a rather large blunder which nearly caused the formation of a totalitarian government which dealt with overpopulation to such measures that they employed the death penalty on multiple-child families. Let me guess, someone shot Haruhi with a DNA-Altering bullet four years ago."

Koizumi then said "Yes, though for what purposes is still unknown however according to our intel the bullet was coded differently and was discharged by an electrical current instead of a normal powder charge." Ray knew what was happening and was irritated at one simple fact, that Juno may have done something both potentially destructive and also potentially the salvation of the universe, even in death she was meddling with Ray and sooner or later the Assassins would realize Ray killed her before them, not that they would disapprove though they would have preferred he let them know.

Ray noticed Koizumi's form was shrinking and Koizumi then said "Well it seems we're running out of energy to maintain this communication. If you know how to set things back to normal then I suggest you do and if it doesn't work then at the least the story of Adam and Eve can repeat."

Ray said just before Koizumi faded entirely "You know nothing about Adam &amp; Eve..."

* * *

And with that not only had Koizumi faded away, but a bright blue light lit the entire room as Ray looked out window to see a Celestial rising from a bending over position.

* * *

Ray ran at a pace beyond any he has shown Haruhi before, appearing almost instantly to her side as she took notice of the Celestial with both awe and what Ray perceived as joy. Ray grabbed her hand immediately and said "How about we get moving!"

Things were playing out exactly as they had in the anime cover-up as Haruhi spoke about being sure of a new world with the SOS-dan present as three Celestials continued to follow them as the boundaries of closed space now seemed eternal. Ray stopped, hand gripped onto Haruhi to force her to stop moving as well as he said "No I want to return to the world before, how it was, exactly how it was before! Not any different!"

Haruhi replied "Why? What is worth living in that kind of world? What would possibly attach you to it?" Ray knew what would end the closed space problem for now, is this how Haruhi chooses someone? Ray decided to let his emotions take over as he looked Haruhi dead in the eye and said "You. That's why I am attached to the world, why I still choose to draw breath instead of taking the coward's way out. I've been though too much for anyone to handle but your boundless energy and your personality keep me drawn closer. You said back at the island that you were looking for someone who wasn't only interested in how you looked or focused entirely on the same base instinct humanity has built a sad, sordid culture around. Perhaps not in the way you wanted but you did find someone who sees you for who you are. You are Suzumiya Haruhi, not just another person on this Earth, not just another 'fish in the sea' as people say. You are yourself and nobody else."

Haruhi didn't say a word, she didn't need or likely didn't want to as she grabbed and pulled Ray's head to hers as the Celestials approached ever closer, seconds seemed like hours before Ray woke in his bed, in normal space.

* * *

Ray's Apartment, 10:35 PM

* * *

Ray sat up from the bed, looking out a window showing a half moon shining in the sky. Haruhi was most likely either going to cover up her emotions with her usual antics or it would just get even more tense around her. One thing was certain though as Ray noticed a change in the wind and switched into Eagle Vision and focused intently at the stars, noticing a large object approaching, his nanites did the calculations for him, by December 28th, 2014, SEELE's feared Second Impact will occur which also means WW3 is just around the corner. Ray taps out of eagle vision and rests back on his bed, facing the ceiling and says to himself before nodding off to sleep "I've altered history before, moved up the clock on the birthdates simply by travelling back in time without specific coordinates. I still have Mikuru's TPDD grafted unto the gauntlets of eden, if I fail this time I will have to try again. But I won't fail this time. Once it's passed, once SEELE's attack dog appears and after I dispose of him I'll tell her everything if the incident makes her realize things must be done a certain way or Amon will still have his way. Something about the region of space Amon is entombed in makes him immune to a shinjin's rewrites, he must be killed physically or psionically. Tomorrow is the big day though, the day the Ray Sphere detonates and day something from the outside world pierces the information blockade directly."

Just before he falls asleep he thinks the words "It was a nice trip through closed space though, I wouldn't want to repeat the whole thing but I don't want to forget it either."

* * *

4:35 AM Local Time (10:35 PM, Nishinomiya), undisclosed location. 1201201201201021020120120

* * *

William continued to tap the desk as he was deep in thought. "Why did the observation team go rogue? I'm sure the reason Ray hung up so quickly was because that girl eavesdropped on the conversation though I don't think it will be a problem. In either case I should send someone to more directly keep an eye on Ray, someone he can trust as well." With those words in mind Will picked up his phone and browsed through its list of names before setting on one and pushing the screen to auto-dial it.

The name was listed as Laura Kylani.

* * *

To be continued...

* * *

Afterword

Laura Kylani is another OC that I will be placing in this story.

Other than that I have nothing else to say except...

Till next time...


	13. Chapter 12

Notice: For some reason they changed the way Doc-Manager is and the spell-check button is gone. Though some spell check exists built into the typing some things might go overlooked and I'll have to meretriciously check my work possibly more than the usual triple check. If there are any serious mistakes I would appreciate a PM notice so I can fix the problem until they have the sense to return the doc-manager file editor back to the way it was. Enjoy the chapter.

* * *

"We work in the dark to serve the light, Nothing is true, everything is permitted. We are assassins and we abide by three core tenants. Stay your blade from the flesh of the innocent. Do not compromise the brotherhood. Do not pronounce your actions to the world. Break them at your own peril."

* * *

Chapter 12: The Beginning

* * *

A Festival, four days until end of summer, 6:18 pm

* * *

The sun was setting and the SOS-dan seemed to be repeating the final eight days of summer with the same list from last time though with two exceptions.

Ray Zenji was present and was the sixth member of the SOS-dan and these eight days were not in a loop.

* * *

Ray kept his guard up because of the high amount of people. Normally being in the crowd would make you feel a bit safer but if Assassins started going rogue to strike at Haruhi or Ray, the crowd was your worst enemy. Blending with the crowd is not as difficult as one would think and rather most average assassins have mastered blending in with the crowd before they turn 16, those that are born into the order that is though those are the majority of Assassins. Most did not choose this life, they were born into it and must live with the fact, this was once the dilemma of William Miles' only son Desmond who couldn't take the life at first and ran and hid until Abstergo found him first. Had the Assassins and Templars fought less then the coming fire might have been prevented without his sacrifice.

Ray tapped into eagle vision and scanned the crowd of which was mostly greyed out due to the large number. Ray had trained his sight to specifically see in certain colors. That which shimmered like silver was an object of interest he could blend in with such as a small group, a bench with others on it or even a well or haystack though the latter would only be commonplace in third world countries and dilapidated places like Villa Auditore.

Red were enemies with hostile intent and above them appeared their affiliation either in the form of a symbol such as the sigil of the Assassins or the red cross that was the sigil of the Templars. Routine Abstergo employees or contractors who were unaware of the Templar conspiracy had the official Abstergo Industries logo above their head instead of the red cross and in other forms it was more direct such as the name of their group like in the case of SEELE agents. Blue was referred to law enforcement and military personnel and they would turn red if in hostile status with Ray or were approaching with hostile intent at which their upper body would be red and their lower body would be blue. Allies were green and made itself well known as the SOS-dan, for the moment, always showed up as green. Targets of interest such as assassination targets, escort targets or specific objects to aquire shone in a shimmering gold that stood in as much full contrast to the blue haze background as red hostiles.

Ray noticed that most of the environment was hazed with the exception of the SOS-dan which were green. But another green color was approaching in his direction along the crowd, not the SOS-dan. With his eagle vision Ray did not need to see her face or talk with her. Above her head was the name Laura Kylani and directly to it's right was the sigil of the Assassins.

Ray remembered how he quickly became a master assassin in only four years, having gained their trust. The Assassins know Ray's biological age was altered by the same technology that gives him an edge over anyone else, his nanotech advantages. For the entire year prior retiring from the Assassins and heading to Nishinomiya to locate and join the SOS-dan Ray had been Laura's mentor, teaching her all the skills an Assassin needs and even teaching her the form of Uradachi swordsmanship Ray had learned from Sam in the previous timeline. Laura was, as far as their human skills go, Ray's equal.

Ray turned to face Haruhi and said "I'm going to browse about a bit, I'll catch up with you at the hill." Haruhi stared for a moment before Ray spoke again, saying "Relax, I'll keep you in sight at all times, remember I explained how my 'Eagle Vision' works, I don't need to be facing you to see you and there is no danger anywhere near here." Haruhi nodded and replied "Alright." and with that she, to the eyes of a normal person disappeared into the crowd heading towards were the SOS-dan was waiting though Ray could easily see her as a green hue in the otherwise haze of blue background that characterized the other civilians as well.

* * *

Ray proceeded to mark Laura as a golden target and proceeded towards her with the thoughts in mind "Why is she here? Is Will still spying on me? Even so however, Me and Laura have served in the Assassins together for a year and I'm sure by now she's capable, and I know she is trustworthy."

* * *

6:41pm

* * *

Ray reached Laura who was sitting on a bench with nobody else as Ray sat next to her. She knew he was heading her way as after all, she too was like him regarding Eagle Vision, 30% Triple Helix and 70% double helix or in short, descended from the first civilization.

Laura was wearing a black hooded jacket with black sweats and black tennis shoes, one thing was certain and that it was her everyday getup as she never liked flashy colors such as white or red, thinking correctly that they stand out in the crowd too much. More recently in her genetics she was of French and Italian descent and had long black hair, her eyes a stark green and despised any form of makeup to the point of refusing any infiltration missions that required her to dress up. She was never the collect information kind of person, she was trained for the namesake of the order. To carry out assassinations.

Ray spoke softly and in English, saying "Why are you here Laura? Did Miles send you to spy on me like those others?" Laura nodded slightly and replied, also in English, saying "Yeah, I'm here to keep an eye on you and your movements, make sure the artifacts you have aren't compromised and also to tell you that we know you took down Juno, though we'd rather you would have informed us before doing such an attack. Abstergo believes the Assassins took it down to stop them from acquiring more Sage corpses. Which actually that building was a target for some time, it had the body of some technician who went insane in Abstergo Entertainment, Montreal Division."

Ray grinned slightly before replying "I suppose I did you a favor then." his face went serious as he continued speaking, saying "How much do you know regarding me and the SOS-dan." Laura replied "I know you care about Haruhi's safety as much as you did mine when we first met." Ray then replied "No chance in hell was I going to let Abstergo kidnap you and cut you up like a guinea pig. Not just as an assassin but as a decent human being I couldn't let such an atrocity happen."

Laura's face became more serious as she replied, saying "On to the matter at hand. I've already made arrangements to transfer into North High as a student. I am the right age anyway and if possible I'll be trying to get into that little club of yours." Ray chuckled and said "I seriously doubt it would be easy even if I told Haruhi your affiliation. But still, Haruhi pulled me into a bout of closed space and she seems to be keeping her memories of that trip a secret as she hasn't mentioned it the entire summer. Don't cause confusion like what happened with Kyon and Sasaki in the manga cover-up." Laura was silent for a moment before saying "Ray, you know how I feel about you, I told you before you left the assassins and I never got a response from you. I would like one now, please."

Ray sighed and replied "Laura, I've only really seen you as a sister, not the way the assassins see each other but as an actual sister as if we were really siblings but it doesn't go further than that, I'm sorry." Laura looked down at the ground for a minute before replying "Alright. I'll be keeping an eye on you from the shadows as my assignment details until I get into the school and make proper introductions." Laura got up and paused for a moment before saying "You love her don't you? Suzumiya." Ray replied "Is it that obvious?" Laura looked at Ray for a moment and said "No, I'm just keen on these things and I know you, I know the slight expressions you make that others miss. If you're happy then I guess I can be too." Ray was silent as Laura proceeded into the crowd and out of visual sight.

* * *

6:45pm

* * *

The SOS-dan enjoyed a bit of fireworks despite there being a sign that says no fireworks. Ray kept an eye out in eagle vision for any blue hues so as to let Haruhi know when to stop with the fireworks though it's unlikely she would listen anyway.

Ray kept the fact of Laura's presence to himself from the others. He knew she would probably get along with most of the SOS-dan though at the same time knew she was perfect for the assignment William Miles put her up to. She was fluent with Japanese and already was assigned to the Hyogo Prefecture prior to Ray's departure so she likely knew the city and several contacts for information. If Ray was forced to make an assignment choice in Will's shoes he would have also chosen Laura. That and the fact that they had mutual trust with eachother which to Miles' mind would only be a statistic in making her presence more easy to bear with Ray.

It's not that he was uneasy around her but Ray would rather she not be present mainly because her feelings towards Ray show to even some of the less perceptive members of the brotherhood and Haruhi is perceptive enough to the point that if she were to be accepted into the Assassins it would most likely be for her perception which as Ray thinks further on the subject was the reason the brotherhood sought her out in the first place in the previous timeline.

* * *

8:30 pm, Suzumiya's House

* * *

After the rest of the SOS-dan went their separate ways for the night Ray again paid visit to Haruhi as he has been doing for a while now.

The TV was off, her parents likely asleep and Haruhi was staring at the blank screen with an expression of thought. Ray was reading one of her manga books and decided to set it down after only a few pages, deciding that particular series was beyond his tolerance.

Haruhi turned her head to Ray and said "Raymond, have you ever had a vision about familiar places but with the sky being a greyish blue color, no clouds. And for there to be large creatures made of energy there?" Ray turned his head to face her, knowing that she was talking about the trip through closed space and he said "Haruhi, I've said it before, there are things that happen in the world beyond the comprehension of most people. I know exactly what you're talking about. I've had the same dream once only. Or rather it wasn't a dream but instead an enclosed region of space separated from normal space. Simplified as Closed Space."

Haruhi's expression churned as she took a look in Ray's direction before saying "Then it wasn't a dream, was it."

Ray's expression was both a combination of concern and uncertainty as he replied "No it wasn't. I remember heading to bed and waking up to the sight of you and you kept asking me questions. It took a while for me to realize I was in closed space before what I call a Celestial appeared." Haruhi replied "How did we get there then? Why were we there?" Ray replied "I can't tell you that, not yet. You'll just have to have a bit of patience for that revelation."

Haruhi sighed and said "More secrets? Well tell me then, you told me something just before we got back. You told me I was the only thing keeping you going. You also said something that made me feel like I wasn't alone in the world. Did you mean what you said?" Ray replied "Yes I meant those words Haruhi. I will say this, what I did was a way of getting out but at the same time that wasn't why I said what I did. I knew what would get us back but at the same time all I really did was speak my mind. Those words I have had wanted to say for a while now. I merely let go of most of my emotions and let them out."

Haruhi felt a rush of emotion which caused her right eye to tear up as she said "I know you're interesting, I want to be together but I keep feeling like you're holding something from me, not something important like some ancient artifact or a secret about myself. I feel like you're holding back something about how you feel. Like you want to say something to me but can't bring yourself to say it."

Ray stared at Haruhi as she wiped the tear seemingly unsure of why it was there. Ray finally spoke, saying "I want to know something. The same thing you now know about me. I'm attracted to you Haruhi, appearance is only what catches the eye but who you are, your personality and the things about you that even you don't even pay much attention to are what I'm attached to. You don't follow blindly the same road everyone expects their peers to follow. You don't allow peer pressure to affect you. You continuously attempt to stand out and let people know you're not just another person, you want them to know you are Suzumiya Haruhi, not just another girl from Nishinomiya who goes to North High. What I want to know if you're interested in who I am, not what I am. Not because I have psionic abilities, not because I have seen the future, not because my dna is different from most others. I want to hear something along the lines of what I told you in closed space to be said to me, about me, from you."

Silence filled the room as the clock showed the time as 9:03 PM

Haruhi grabbed her left shoulder with her right hand and said "I don't know what to say about this. I feel like every moment I'm around you my life has meaning, that I'm not just another number in the population of the world. I don't know if it's because of what you are or who you are specifically. Honestly I believe it's both. I'm interested in what you are, what you can do, the things you know. But also if your personality was different, if you didn't have the same morals or beliefs you have, I think I wouldn't really be interested. Tommorow is the day we head back to school. I want to think on this Ray, I want you to think on this. I've come to agree with you on that if we are going to have a relationship it will be that way permanently."

Ray nodded and said "Haruhi, there's also something you should know. The Assassins are going to get more involved now, someone I saved, recruited, trained and fought with for a year will be moving into the school with the assignment of keeping an eye on me though I suspect she will also be there to keep an eye on you."

Haruhi nodded and said "Can we trust her?" Ray replied "Yes, she is one of two people I would trust with my life. I believe if she's forced to make a choice between standing at my side or following an order that would threaten me, that she would choose to stand at my side." Haruhi was silent for a moment before saying "How close are you?" Ray replied "I see her as a sister. I wouldn't know entirely as I'm an only child but if anyone would meet the criteria I would say it's her."

Haruhi replied "Who is the other person you trust so much?"

Ray got up and headed to the door as if he wouldn't answer the question before stopping and saying "You, I would trust you with my life also. There are some things I will tell you tomorrow when we have some privacy at school. Important things I feel you should know before you make your decision."

With those words said he left

* * *

The next day, 11:33AM, North High, SOS-dan clubroom

* * *

Laura had made introductions though had yet to approach the SOS-dan, Ray could tell she was watching from a distance, observing the SOS-dan's actions which recently had calmed down from eccentric activities to simply looking about the city and hanging out in their clubroom.

Ray met up with Haruhi in the clubroom while there was still some free time. Oddly enough the rest of the SOS-dan wasn't present including Kyon and Nagato. Ray had scouted out the school with Eagle Vision and noticed they were all gathered at the cafeteria seemingly talking about something.

Ray sat down, vision normal, on a chair by the table in the clubroom and Haruhi sat on the opposite side and said "Last night you said you wanted to tell me something before I tell you my decision." Ray nodded and closed his eyes for a moment before opening them and, with a serious face said "It's about the visions. The one where we're both in the assassins actively and dealing with world war three."

Haruhi nodded as Ray took a drink from a soda he had gotten from a vending machine and continued speaking, saying "I never had any visions from the artifacts about that time. I get those dreams because they are memories. I've gone back in time twice before Haruhi, even my great-great-grandparents haven't even been born yet. I was born in the year 2476. I've gone back in time the first time from 2522 to 2008 and the second time around I went back from 2020 to 2010. Because I tried to overshoot with a time travel device that is now unable to go to times prior to the Tanabata of 2010, four years before this moment in time. There a massive closed space occurrence prevented any further time travel from either observing or travelling to periods of time prior to that date. The technology of the future was advanced but I myself was a tinkerer and like I've said before, I think of myself as an aspiring inventor. The normal Nanomachines we have assist with medical and combat related issues but I built a cluster that halts the aging process entirely and can even bring about, with psionic assistance a change in the biological and physiological age of the user. In short I can appear to be any age I wish, from a child to an old man. My current chronological age, including time spent here in the past is around 62. I could remain alive barring any complications for over 5000 years before my cells would be unable to divide any further. I also lacked truth in my speech when I said my DNA was 30% Triple and 70% Binary. My DNA is 50% Triple and 50% Binary as a result of controlled genetic modification. We are not alone in the universe Haruhi, and it is a very unfriendly universe yet alone an unfriendly galaxy. Alien races out there who will come to believe humanity as being some kind of unholy form of life and insectoid life that is aggressively parasitic and devoid of free will, existing only to survive, consume, evolve and reproduce with some exceptions to certain members of their race. There is so much more I need to tell you. Need, not want. I would rather not expose you to the true darkness that is reality. But eventually I will have to and I cannot say much more other than, like me. There are things considered supernatural powers that you can do with proper training. On a direct level, you could surpass me in all aspects of physical and psionic skills and actions."

Haruhi listened to each word with intent, what caught her attention more was that Ray expressed that it was a necessity for her to learn the truth, that Ray didn't want to tell her all these things about the world, nay the universe.

Haruhi was deep in thought as Ray noticed, the digital clock on the computer desk facing their direction and showing the time as 11:49 PM. The lunch hour would soon be over. Haruhi then decided to speak as the clock showed the time as 11:52PM. She said "I don't see any reason to change the choice I've made. Though I find it hard to believe it all, the thing's I've seen up to now, your Gauntlets of EDEN, closed space...Normally considering you're age you would be a pervert but, if you were there when what should just be a vision happened, then you aren't in a way. You've known me before for years, at a time where we were both adults. Though technically if you think about it another way I would be the one with ill intentions. You haven't even been born yet and I'm almost of age, If I survived to the time you were born I would be almost 600 years old."

Ray spoke, saying "Let's get one thing straight, I have no 'ill intentions'. I'm not that kind of person, I don't let primal instincts tell me how to think."  
Haruhi chuckled as Ray said the term primal instincts, as if he couldn't be any more right on what the topic was. Haruhi let her head tilt slightly left and stared right into Ray's eyes as she said "The hour will be up in five minutes, I suppose we could talk about this some other time. But as for my decision, I want to be with you. I don't care about all the strange circumstances. All I can think about right now is you and that doesn't seem too bad. Sure I've got thoughts but that's not something that's going to happen outside of marriage considering your beliefs and how firm you are with them."

Ray smiled as he said "After school we'll meet up again. One thing that needs to happen soon now is that you have to be unaging like me, granted with time you could control your physical appearance regarding age. Though neither of us are capable of outright shapeshifting."

Ray shuddered at the thought of Haruhi using her abilities for shapeshifting, he would direct her powers towards pure psionics and direct action rather than rewriting everything. One thing was for sure though and if they didn't get to class in 14 minutes, they would be chewed out by the teachers.

* * *

SOS-dan Clubroom, 6:45pm.

* * *

The entire SOS-dan was gathered in one place. Asakura Ryoko, Sasaki and even Laura Kylani were present. Laura having been invited by Ray who had mentioned to the SOS-dan that he was about to reveal something to them all and he did just that, revealing things even Laura was unaware of (mainly his true age and origins), the same things he revealed to Haruhi at lunch hour and prior to that, things that he had revealed to her at the Island Mansion though in this case it was Kyon and Sasaki who were unaware of these things.

Ray took a sip of tea as he let the revelations sink into the rest of the room. Kyon then spoke, saying "Then, at some point in the future there is going to be a world war, unless there is a way to stop it." Ray sighed and said "There is no way to stop the war from happening, Abstergo was only able to cause the conflict by convincing the world that a certain calamity that will occur was caused by the United States. According to history as I stole a TPDD in the year 2020 and went back to 2010 from there, around the year 2027 the truth will out that it was an impact from a crashing alien in Antarctica that caused what the world will know as the second impact. From there on Abstergo will be revealed as a terrorist organization and it will mean the end of the long Assassin-Templar conflict. But SEELE will make it's move and the Assassins will have a new enemy even worse than the Templars. SEELE was unable to use Haruhi's abilities for their projects but Sasaki also has similar potential and they kidnapped and tried to use her only for things to backfire on them and setting the way for a unified terran government after a horrible incident called the third impact claimed half the human race. The government I was born in, the United Earth Directorate. The UED will rule until the end of all things, in the future there will be a war across all of our territory and even beyond. It will begin with an alien race known as the Zerg and it will end in utter darkness. I'm breaking part of the veil now and honestly it would do more harm than good to keep the secrets regarding those present."

Koizumi spoke up, saying "And exactly what secrets are you going to reveal?" Ray replied "Your natures and capabilities. Regarding Haruhi and Sasaki I won't reveal everything just yet but regarding you all. I will speak as you are unable to act otherwise."

With those words Asakura froze Koizumi and Mikuru in place, preventing them from acting, an electromagnetic burst aimed at the two specifically to inhibit nerve communications in the muscle areas associated with movement, which was the same tactic used on Kyon once when she was still tethered to the IDTE.

Ray resumed speaking, saying "There is a coming darkness caused by an alien as old as the first civilization themselves, he has a name. Amon is known by an alien race called the Protoss at their darkest hour as the fallen Xel'Naga who altered the Zerg into what I know of them, I will show you all my last moments in the future I aim to prevent." With those words he pulled from his pocket the Apple of Eden of which Laura recognized immediately as it began to show the entire room's presence to that of Ray's memories.

* * *

July 6th, 2522 AD, The Grand Canyon, United States.

* * *

Ray woke up to the sound of gunfire and said "Why do I bother setting an alarm when they seem to always attack five minutes before."

Getting up the seemingly 35 year old man got up and opened up some kind of holographic terminal and was running a routine check on his nanomachines, thinking to himself "I suppose I could make myself appear younger now that the nanos are fully stable, not sure if the men would recognize me though. I stopped aging at 35 and I think I'll keep it that way unless something happens, doubt it will considering Amon has no chance of defeat here. I shouldn't tell the men about the truth, to them it's just a zerg invasion, they don't know they're the last of mankind, I do and I'll keep that secret to my grave."

With those words in his mind he left the makeshift room and was walking down a tunnel and approached an armory, suiting up in a command variant of the UED Marine combat suit and proceeded to the surface and took note that there were three lines of gunfire missing from the usual, in only four hours they lost three lines already and it was only getting worse. Ray proceeded to the surface command post and took note of the electrical grids around to prevent Nydus Worms from breaking the lines.

* * *

A UED Ghost approached Ray who continued to watch as slowly another line stopped firing whilst the others were still loud. With less gunfire there was less light, the Sun was gone completely drained entirely of it's light, fuel and mass. Earth was now a rogue planet, drifting in open space without a parent star, warmth only possible in the underground environment their base existed and inside the protection of their armored suits. A human being would die of exposure on the surface as Amon had personally torn apart Earth's atmosphere six months after silencing Sol, Earth's sun.

The ghost spoke, saying "We've lost three lines in four hours, all lines are concerned with ammunition shortages as we'll likely run out of bullets after 12 hours."

The words echoed in Ray's head as he said "Four, we've lost four lines, look at where Charlie Line was. There is no more gunfire." The ghost replied "Shit."  
Ray turned his head towards the specialist and said "Is that all?" The ghost nodded and Ray dismissed him back to his post and from there it played on out like his memory, the Zerg continued to swarm until the UED Marines got lucky and killed the last one. And then the Hybrid came and silenced the survivors. To the sight of the others there was a bright white light and then the sight of what seemingly was Nishinomiya in a state of closed space and there the vision ended, canceled by Ray who was not about to show them Tassadar's last words to him.

* * *

SOS-dan Clubroom, five minutes later

* * *

What was several hours only took minutes for the apple to show them. Haruhi seemed distressed as she said "This is the future you are from? There's nothing there at all, nothing. That flash, was that you going back, you never had the thought or intent." Ray sighed and replied "I had help from an alien who had somehow survived the end. His words reveal more secrets that I can't tell you yet in fear that it will cause Amon to win based on your reaction or another future not as bad but still intolerable."

Asakura Ryoko unfroze Koizumi and Mikuru as Ray continued, saying "I have to do this a certain way. There are still so many things that can go wrong, This isn't the end, it is the beginning. I have to teach you how to use abilities on par with mine and once I've taught you all I can I will reveal the final secret. There is nothing we can do to prevent the coming world war without making an even worse situation but with the things I've learned since then and the powers that I've recently unlocked and by giving you the same nanotech I have myself, we can survive whatever Abstergo, SEELE, the Assassins or hostile alien races can throw at us.

Time passed as he began to reveal other things, about the IDTE, about Nagato and Ryoko's past and current natures. About Koizumi's Organization consisting entirely of people who have psionic powers inside Closed Space, about Mikuru being from the future though to Ray's point of view, the less-distant past. And also assuring Haruhi that Kyon was merely an ordinary person caught up in the conspiracy. Ray also revealed that Sasaki also had her DNA altered but not as far as Haruhi's. According to Ray her DNA was altered to be 90% Triple Helix and 10% Binary Helix and was altered by a different group than the one who altered Haruhi. Ray seemed to know more about the circumstances regarding Sasaki's abilities and that contrary to appeared differences, the organization that built itself around Sasaki (only to betray her recently) became empowered a year after Haruhi and that the abilities Haruhi and Sasaki, whilst they are from the same set, reacted differently with Sasaki's initial DNA than with Haruhi's and as Ray continued to explain, saying "More specifically, Sasaki was either not as compatible with the DNA Altercation or the process used to alter Haruhi's DNA was different than Sasaki's as Sasaki's DNA was altered in secret during a blood transfusion and Haruhi was sniped by a DNA-Altercation bullet." Haruhi spoke up, saying "Wait, I was shot four years ago? How would something like that escape my memory?"

Ray sighed and said "Likely from a distance, and if both the weapon was suppressed and the shooter far enough a distance, you wouldn't feel the impact. It's not like a real bullet where it's a metal slug going through you or getting lodged in. DN-Ammunition is a bullet shaped and built from a type of gel that is hyperassorbed by the human body. DN-Ammunition would like act as poison to two other alien races I know but regarding the main point, DN-Ammo would normally only produce the kinetic push back but is not solid enough to pierce skin, instead absorbing nearly instantly into the skin and after that a combination of chemicals and nanomachines would enact the genetic modification at a rapid pace, in the Haruhi's case I would say the DN-Bullet used would have to have been developed in secret as it acted far faster than any round prior to the destruction of time travel knowledge and the illegalization of DN-Ammunition in all forms. In any case, I've already explained Tachibana Kyoko's organization and intent to transfer your abilities fully into Sasaki, a fatal process. I've also explained to you Konou Suyou's position as what the IDTE used to identify as the Canopy Dominion but now it seems she is the first humanoid interfrace used by an alien race known as the Angels who see humanity as a mistake of evolution. There is no diplomacy possible with them, either the human race will come to an end or the Angels will come to an end. Anything else?"

Haruhi pondered for a moment, she had already had enough time to take everything in, the long speeches taking two hours of their time as the clock evidenced.

* * *

8:35PM, 10102101201020120121

* * *

Haruhi finally decided to speak after a minute of which Ray noticed she was thinking of what to say. He didn't miss much. Deciding to speak, she said "Well I suppose all that's left is the fact that we're going to be in a relationship."

Ray seemed to smile slightly and shake his head as he said "After all the expressions you kept making I assumed you wanted it to be a secret, I rarely miss things like intentions." Laura seemed to be reacting by trying to keep her expressions hidden, Haruhi assumed she may have feelings towards him, it felt selfish but Haruhi knows Ray feelings are towards her and not Laura though Haruhi still for some reason feels like Laura is getting the short end of the stick though again it could be something else that's bothering her, perhaps the timing of telling everyone.

Koizumi decided to speak up, saying "Well if everything is out in the open I'll say this here and now, I disapprove though I'm not really in a position to do anything about it." Sasaki then said "If so then you're just selfish on this subject, Haruhi has the right to live in the direction she wants to." Koizumi however seemed unconvinced and replied "If so then why is Ray forcing this responsibility of being some kind of savior on her, as far as we know this wont happen for some five or six hundred years, we won't be affected by it.".

They continued to bicker about and Haruhi stopped paying any attention to what they were arguing about she focused on the last thing she did pay attention to and shouted "This is bigger than just myself! Ray has expressed several times he would rather I not have to deal with as he put it the darkness of reality. This does affect us as it affects our future as a species, it means the end of everything and if we have the means to prevent it then we will! It seems selfish to put our survival ahead of others but if that's how the world spins then fine. I'm willing to come to terms with what's going to happen and to Ray's point of view this does affect him. To him it's not what will happen it's what has happened. I am choosing of my own free will right now to go through this, it could end up going wrong, we might not win but I'd feel a lot better knowing we at least tried to stop this horrible future from happening. I can accept a third world war now, these things happen but it wont be the absolute end of everything like the future Ray is from! I don't care if aliens predicted everything up to now, if time travelers simply knew it in history or whatever else you can think up! It doesn't matter anymore. What does matter is that we work to stop the horror and maybe the timing of telling everyone of my decision to get close to Ray is off but at the very least the time up until the day of reckoning will have been worth whatever battles are going to be fought!"

* * *

102101201201201021012012120

* * *

Ray was a bit surprised at Haruhi's reaction to the bickering. With all that had happened to her recently, the break in, the rogue assassins and all these sudden revelations Ray thought she would react with more uncertainty and confusion but she is maturing faster than he had expected. Something was off though Ray could sense that, that there was something up with Haruhi and as he thought that she shot him a "I need to talk to you alone" look and walked out without saying anything else. Ray left along with her as the rest of the room pondered at how to handle the situation.

* * *

9:05PM

* * *

Haruhi was staring at the night sky from the roof of the building as Ray also stared out at the sky. Haruhi had just called to let her parents know she would be a little late getting home. Ray looked over towards Haruhi and said "You look like you have more to say."

Haruhi turned to look at him and replied "Just to you. Everything that's happened, you've prepared for this day haven't you? The day I decide to suck it up and accept what has to happen, accept what needs to be done." Ray pauses for a moment and then says "There are several things that I didn't plan, such as Abstergo breaking into your house, those rogue Assassins, falling in love with you. Hell I didn't even expect you to feel the same way." Haruhi grinned slightly and said "We can't expect or predict it all, things happen that don't go according to plan, I kind of learned that with the visions. I don't have every memory of that life but I do remember some things the artifact showed me such as wanting to open up to you for several years and of course the actual vision. But it played out differently, every time I had that vision until this summer it ended with you dying, not me. The first time after your eyes went wide a bullet went through your throat, you couldn't speak and you laid there for four hours as the medics couldn't do anything and kept saying both that they couldn't save you and that it was a miracle you were alive as long as you were, I'll assume because of your nanites." Ray then said "And then you tried something else, taking the bullet for me." Haruhi nodded and said "I tried everything else, moving you out of the way only for a second shot to get you, pulling you down into cover only for that convoy to be a trap by the ASDC and we both die in the end or even me trying to convince you I knew what was going to happen and once I did, we left the unit only for the sniper to have followed us and it was the only time you died the moment you were shot and it was only because it was through the back of the head. After seeing it so many times I just wanted a different outcome even if it meant being shot instead, so I just moved and got in the way of the bullet as soon as I saw the scope flash, grabbed you and...you know the rest." Ray was silent for a while before saying "It won't happen again, This time we both know the future and when that date comes both of us will be able to survive the impossible. If you had the same nanotech I have at the time, you would have survived a heart shot. Your sheer force of will is what kept you alive long enough to tell me that you loved me. After that is when my real power emerged and...Haruhi there are things that I can do, a state I can enter where nothing matters except bodycount or survival. If I ever enter it again I might even attack you and I know that sooner or later you'll need to learn how to enter this fight or die state otherwise you won't be strong enough to face what needs to be done. I know it's probably to late to ask this question but, are you sure you're ready for this? Sure we won't have to worry about the final darkness for some 550 plus years but there are going to be many challenges on the way such as learning self control with what you can do, that organization called SEELE is going to use every resource they already have and can get to turn you into a weapon of mass destruction without free will. There will be other problems such as world war three for one, the angels and the Integrated Data Thought Entity will be hostile which is a short term problem. Speaking of which do not trust Kimidori Emiri for any reason, she is an IDTE Interfrace Terminal or as Koizumi's agency calls them, TFEI Terminals."

Haruhi held her hand up to which Ray stopped speaking and said "Wait, Kimidori is a TFEI? What about the current Student Council President? Ray shakes his head and says "No he's part of Koizumi's Organization, in fact he's not even as old as his papers would say as both I've seen him smoke occasionally and my Eagle Vision confirms he's around 22 years old, height was stunted which is probably why they chose him and his eyesight is 20/20 so those glasses are an act also. As far as other TFEIs I would say Kimidori is the only one I know of so far but there could be others, in fact it's possible 10% of the entire school, faculty included, are TFEI Terminals."

Haruhi sighed and said "More problems and it seems this isn't the worst of it." Ray nodded and said "Far from it, the worst in the end will be Amon who is individually superior to the entire IDTE and all it's terminals and that's including the calculation if Nagato and Asakura weren't severed from it. The angels won't survive Humanity's retaliation. Our biggest threats in the short term will be Abstergo, SEELE and possibly the Assassins. In the Long term it will be most likely the UED Government and of course Amon and his puppets."

Haruhi's face seemed overwhelmed by the scale of what was happening as she said "Raymond, I'm still unsure of all of this, I keep hoping it's just a bad dream and that we're still at the island in summer, before the rogue assassins, living an otherwise slightly eventful life but not as much as what it's been, that incident with closed space though, whatever the cause aside, I wouldn't mind it repeating. In fact I would want it to happen the way it did. But all of this, it feels just too much for me to handle. You're a 62 year old battle-hardened veteran who's already mastered his abilities, I'm just finding out about all of this and I'm only 17."

Ray placed his hand on Haruhi's right shoulder and said "I understand you're feeling overwhelmed. I would rather that version of things you said be true as well but it just isn't so. Even I'm overwhelmed with all of this, I'm only one person against all of history's worst adversaries and though I know I'm not alone in this fight anymore, it still feels too much. Balancing how much to tell you with the fact that sooner or later you have to know everything. Wanting both to save everything and also wanting to just be with you, holding only the responsibilities of our relationship in hand, the ones I would want. But the world doesn't work that way, the galaxy doesn't and neither does the entire universe. Whatever God's plan for this universe is I can only pray and hope we succeed and live long enough to say 'Happily ever after' when we tell stories about all of this. If we live to tell these stories..."

Ray's hand started to waver as Haruhi grabbed him and held him close, saying "We're in this together, whatever the future has in store for us we'll just face head on then. It's what we've been doing since you joined the SOS-dan, it's what we'll keep doing. Hell it's probably what the entire human race has been doing since we came about." Ray chuckled at the last sentence and said "We've been fighting as a species since the moment we were altered. The first civilization was our first enemy on the field of war and ironically also the ones who helped us rebuild after the sun scorched the Earth after."

Haruhi replied "The sun? Let me guess, you literally saved the world in 2012 when those earthquakes and auroras happened." Ray replied back "No that honor belongs to the son of William Miles, Desmond Miles. He made the ultimate sacrifice to do it but it had to be done. If I was involved with that then he needn't have died. All I have done was avenge his death, a survivor of the first civilization...well I'll tell you the story some other time, it's rather long and it's getting late."

Haruhi chuckled a bit and said "You're coming over to my house tonight right with me. I'm not going to tell my parents we're together without you there also."  
Ray smiled and held Haruhi tight for a moment before the two of them proceeded down and towards the barely-lit route to her house.

* * *

9:58pm

* * *

Ray and Haruhi were halfway there, Haruhi insistent on keeping hold of his hand though not out of fear. Ray felt a strange shift in the wind and tapped into Eagle Vision to notice a red hued individual up ahead, the information coming to his eyes sent a chill through him as he stopped immediately to which Haruhi replied "What is it?" Ray said "Follow me, closely, do not stray to far otherwise one of us could end up kidnapped or dead, follow my instructions to the letter, this will end with me using my blade understand, our pursuit must die." Haruhi's face was now afraid as Ray nudged her closer and led her into an alleyway.

* * *

10:15 PM

* * *

Haruhi felt she could barely see in the dark alley and kept a tight grip onto Ray's hand as he led her through the alley, stopping a few times, to Ray, he could see everything, he was tapped into Eagle Vision and his target was still following them, above his red hued head was Ikari Shinji, a name, and the SEELE affiliation. Had Ray's second temporal trip not happened he probably would have had a life of his own, but with the entire second impact and third world war delayed though not the end times, Ray knew it was either him or Shinji who was now nothing more than a shell of his former self, his self-identity stripped away by SEELE's growing cybernetics program which is the technology Ray recovered in the future as his initial cybernetics were limited to the implants for operating a UED Marine's Combat Suit. Shinji was a husk, his mind trapped, his will suppressed by nanomachines and drugs, he was nothing more than a puppet and his father all too willing, in fact his father was the one who suggested Shinji for the cybernetics experiments. Ray's own cybernetics were improved versions but still based on the initial cybernetics tech that Shinji was forced with. What is worse is that Shinji is a class 12 psionic like Kerrigan was according to reports from the Koprulu prior to the final darkness. Ray now has two targets. Ikari Shinji, to protect Haruhi from being kidnapped and Ikari Gendo, to shut down what's left of SEELE. NERV may be gone but SEELE is likely just starting someplace else and as Ray can tell with his nanotech that SEELE and the Ethereal ones made a deal behind his back as several cybernetics designs in that suit are not like the designs Ray recovered entirely, the year is wrong for one, and two, the materials used are different. Ray will have to confront them later, if Haruhi is safeguarded for the night.

After entering another street and to Haruhi an unfamiliar part of the city, Ray was close to his apartment which held a weapon he needed most right now, his HF Murasama which for once he had not stealthily stored it as usual and if he tried to summon it outright he would use enough power to be vulnerable to a coordinated IDTE/Angel strike if they sent Suyou and multipule TFEIs and worse, if Duran appeared, even in his weakened state.

* * *

10:48PM, Ray's apartment.

* * *

Ray opened up the box quickly and strapped on his HF Murasama as Haruhi sat on his bed, gripping the sheets in fear as footsteps started to be heard. Ray looked in the direction of the wall and scowled as he attached the gundraw system to the blade and got into a stance ready to strike, his hidden blades also strapped on and his Nanite shield active. By changing events and worse, bringing technology for Suyou to copy, he had also given his enemies here a fighting chance, he had to be careful as his Nanite shield might only stop one or two attacks next time and if Shinji has any plasma weaponry, he could only take five shots at most. Ray pulled the trigger, drawing and slashing straight through the door only for the attack to be parried by what seemed to be, if only a short glimpse, an abomination. He was at least 19 years old, but his skin was pale and slightly grey, some kind of barbarically attached red lense to his left eye or rather in place of his left eye. Aside from his head and neck there was no trace of organic material elsewhere, a metal torso, metal arms, and an HF Blade which confirmed Ray's fears that his use of the HF Murasama had given them ideas and made the technology come forth sooner.

Immediately several sparks flew about though none drawing flame as the roof collapsed suddenly, Haruhi had just turned to notice sparks in the distance.

Ray immediately parried several strikes from Shinji's own HF Blade and quickly dashed to the side to avoid a sword thrust, Ray trusted his Nanite shield but not enough to carelessly take hits like before, his enemies have improved themselves and he has thinned the shield closer to his clothing rather than a wide bubble to avoid accidental activations. Shinji's tech was definitely on par with Ray's as both of their combat pace was the same though Ray still had a trump card as his eyes flared red and a red energy began to flow through his Murasama and in point of fact, his entire body as he sliced clean through Shinji's sword with a single strike forward which caused Shinji to react and dash back and quickly drew a second HF Blade, this time avoiding contact with Ray's blade and rather trying to hit him directly. Ray decided to shift his focus from hitting Shinji to hitting his blade and thus disarm him though Shinji performed an action Ray though was beyond SEELE's ability, a forced psionic motion to evade a rather relentless flurry which would have otherwise taken his life. his machine half was forcing his brain to act with psionic intent, meaning whoever was giving him orders was getting desperate as it would damage his brain and whether the liked it or not, it was a vital organ and would affect his actions with or without this grade of cybernetics. Ray immediately dashed back several times and sheathed his sword quickly only to dash forward and use the gundraw again, Shinji swapped his HF blade to his left hand as Ray's gundraw took his right arm off clean as white blood, rather than red flowed out and more freely than normal blood would. Ray quickly shifted his stance and took Shinji's other arm more easily as he was right, his reaction time was slower because of the forced psionic speed burst. Ray quickly outpaced Shinji who attempted to Run and, driven by a form of bloodlust, began hacking away until he was nothing but a head and several parts. Ray panting as his Nanites began to emit small sonic pulses to force the blood off of Ray's body and armaments.

* * *

Ray flickered out of sight and appeared next to Haruhi after that who turned her head quickly upon noticing Ray was there. Ray cleaned his blade and tapped into telekinesis to repair the damage just as the land lord noticed. Before Haruhi could say anything or react however Ray dashed up to him and grabbed his head with his eyes lit red, Ray released him after a moment and he turned around and walked away without a word, as if in a trance.

After only five minutes Ray had made it look like no battle took place, even disposing of Shinji's "mess" as it was nowhere near intact enough to be identified as a corpse yet alone a human corpse.

* * *

11:30 PM, Suzumiya's House

* * *

Ray and Haruhi sat on the couch, her parents made aware of the fact that Ray had again prevented her from being kidnapped though he had left out the details. Haruhi was also made aware that Ray could erase memories and even implant false ones.

After 10 minutes of what seemed to be just staring at an off TV or the walls and ceiling Haruhi spoke, saying "Ray, this ability to erase memories. Have you ever used it on me before?" Ray wanted to say no but found for some reason he couldn't bring himself to lie on this and said "Only once, during closed space. I was agitated at the situation and let's just say I told you everything and it caused you to have a reaction that would have caused the kind of future I don't want to happen. I've never implanted false memories in your mind, incase you intend to ask that as well."

Haruhi sighed and said "Then don't ever do that again, if you're going to tell me more of these secrets then do it only when you're absolutely sure it wont cause problems." Ray nodded, he wanted to make that promise but couldn't and he wasn't about to tell Haruhi that fact. The way she was acting recently was a complete break from character as far as he was concerned and it was both comforting and upsetting. He was glad of the fact that she would be able to learn about her true powers sooner and possibly save everything with merely a thought. At the same time he couldn't help but feel Haruhi was hiding her true feelings on the matter still, that it was more than just being uncertain and with that in mind he spoke, saying "Haruhi, something is wrong with you. You're hiding something from me this time, something too important to hide. You said back at school you were uncertain but it's something more then that. Open up, just tell me how you feel on this completely."

Haruhi's eyes glowed golden as she decided to let it go, shouting "I don't want this! I don't want it at all, I'll do anything just to have the world change to the way I knew it, with you there beside me... I don't want all this responsibility on me, it's too much and nearly everything I said back at school was just to stop the argument! There has to be something, anything we can do to stop this third world war from happening, something to stop this second impact and stop the end of everything and still come out ahead! I'm sick of all the damn secrets you keep hiding. If there is a way to just make this all disappear then just tell me! Tell me what needs to be done to stop it and I promise I'll do everything to prevent any kind of future you would despise, anything to be free of this stress! I understand how you feel now, everything you've said and the looks I get from your face. You want a normal life, uneventful and now with everything that's happening that's what I want too. I just want to go through a normal high school life with you, get a decent education at a university with you with me also and then just be with you in peace forever. I don't want to grow old and die, I know now that doesn't have to happen, we can be together for 5000 years you said, if that's not a happily ever after ending then I don't know what is."

Her shouting startled Ray and before long her parents came charging in wondering what was going on. After a few minutes Ray convinced them to go back to bed without needing to do anything in regards to psionics.

Haruhi was panting, seething with what Ray perceived as a combination of anger and fear. Ray sighed and held her in an embrace, Haruhi wrapped her arms around him and as tears came down her cheeks she said "It can't be that way can it Ray? You still have to do things in a certain order is that it? I know you would want it the way I do, the things you say and the way you look at me. I know you're holding those secrets for a good reason. I know you look at yourself like some kind of monster or freak. You're not, I believe you're a good person and I'll be here for you when things get bad."

Ray held her tight, not saying a word, thoughts going in his mind "No it can't be that way, not yet. Not until I teach you self control, about how the universe is so that when you do change things you won't accidentally cause some kind of contradiction in the laws of physics ending things yourself. That's what I fear, I don't want you to be the one who destroys everything. Compared to that future, even Amon's has better results because there would be a universe to exist, his hybrid would be nothing but thralls but there would at least be time for the cycle to repeat and attempt to undo itself again. You're the key to breaking the cycle Haruhi."

With Ray thoughts can pass instantly sometimes and this is one of those cases, his mind understands these words but need not speak or verbalize it which would consume time. Ray immediately replies after Haruhi finishes speaking, saying "Thank you, I'll always be here for you as well. I won't lie, it will only get worse but at the very least we have eachother. For 62 long years I've either been focused on studies or duty. I wouldn't know the meaning of the word normal the way you do. To me, war and stress are normal. For the first time in my entire life I have something, someone who makes me feel at peace when we're together. I'll always be here, always. Any time you feel depressed or overwhelmed just come to me, I'll make sure you don't feel depressed and I'll take as much as whatever burden overwhelms you away as I can. 550 years is a long time Haruhi, more than enough time to fix things, more than enough time to make a future that is worth living in."

* * *

Time passed and Ray took to the guest room again for the night. He felt uncertain as he stared at the clock which continued to remind him it was 12:48 AM

Ray decided to sleep, his nanites programmed to forcibly wake him if there's an intrusion within 25 meters that is recognized by his eagle vision as hostile, his proficiency with merging his tech with his abilities was higher than any other ghost or even spectre had ever accomplished before. This way Ray could both get some real sleep and not worry about safety concerns. Programming this mode had been difficult but he had finally accomplished it. Just before falling fully asleep Ray held one thing in mind. One thing above everything else.

"Keep Haruhi close."

* * *

To be continued...


End file.
